I'm starting to feel like this advice isn't so great anymore.
Everyone is trying to do less and what we end up with is a million little apps that do one thing really well, which is great, but you're still dealing with a million separate apps. The iPhone wasn't just a really great phone, it was a phone, an iPod, and an 'Internet Communicator' but because those things were combined in such a great package it really spoke to people and made it something they would want. Of course the App Store is what is driving the popularity now but that is still because customers can come to one place, the iPhone, and get tons of different uses out of their one device.
I think we're starting to enter an era where users are more interested in packages of functionality that are easy to use and work really well over a bunch of tiny solutions.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that I prefer products/applications that let me do lots of things reasonably well in one place instead of getting the 'perfect' thing for each problem I have.
You may need to factor in the "minimal viable product." A few years ago, an mp3 player could be consider enough for a high-end (read non-knockoff) product. However, fast forward a few years and you now need a mp3 player, video player, and app store driven device.
So I think you need to factor in the minimum requirements of the device (or foodchain) and then execute with the highest level of quality.
I don't think the problem is the number of features really but maintaining the simplicity or ability to access the features you need. For any given product there are probably a core set of features that everyone wants and beyond that each additional feature pleases some other slice of the customer group but before you add that extra feature you should probably consider what that might cost you in terms of maintaining the simplicity of access and ease of use of your core features.
Everyone is trying to do less and what we end up with is a million little apps that do one thing really well, which is great, but you're still dealing with a million separate apps. The iPhone wasn't just a really great phone, it was a phone, an iPod, and an 'Internet Communicator' but because those things were combined in such a great package it really spoke to people and made it something they would want. Of course the App Store is what is driving the popularity now but that is still because customers can come to one place, the iPhone, and get tons of different uses out of their one device.
I think we're starting to enter an era where users are more interested in packages of functionality that are easy to use and work really well over a bunch of tiny solutions.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that I prefer products/applications that let me do lots of things reasonably well in one place instead of getting the 'perfect' thing for each problem I have.
What do you think?