The problem is that the (current) notion of a "feature" lends itself to poor design. If it's a "feature", then there needs to be an entry on the drop-down menu

The problem is that the (current) notion of a "feature" lends itself to poor design. If it's a "feature", then there needs to be an entry on the drop-down menu, or an icon, or a name for the particular new thing that you can do. What Apple seems to do right is to avoid thinking in terms of "features" and instead (strictly) in terms of use cases: tools should ideally be sufficiently versatile -- and simple -- that they can be applied to do many things without each of those things having a button. Hammers, e.g., have little in the way of "features", but are still pretty darn capable.