I’ve been a loyal member of the Samsung ecosystem for decades, going back to the time before smartphones. The functionality in their devices has always been a good fit for the things I need to do and how I want to do them. But now, there’s been a change that’s causing concern.
The new Samsung S25 Ultra phone that is coming out is the latest in the long line of Note and Ultra models that include a stylus for taking handwritten notes and interacting with the device. Over the past few models that stylus has supported Bluetooth to do things such as control the camera shutter remotely and interact with apps through swipes in the air.
Unfortunately this new model does not include Bluetooth in the stylus, removing those features on their top-of-the-line premium device. Samsung says that less than 1% of their users used those features causing the costs from design and manufacturing to be unwarranted.
I have used the remote shutter feature, albeit infrequently, but I have used it. It was helpful when I needed it. But that’s not the issue here. Now that it’s going, all the sudden it feels like I’m losing a crucial feature and that’s not the case.
When features are removed from our popular applications and devices, we can lock in on that loss and blow it out of proportion of the impact that feature had on our life and productivity. It’s a shame to have a feature and have it go away, but this is part of the price of technology, improvements happen while less effective change can disappear.
When you hear a feature on your favorite tool or application is going away and it makes you concerned, ask this question: am I concerned because I’m losing something I use, or am I concerned because I’m afraid I may have missed out on something?
The fear of missing out (FOMO) is prevalent in so many places, but especially so in the vast feature sets that come hand in hand with technology. We need to take stock of the features that make a difference in our work (remember the 80% of the work from 20% of the features argument) and concentrate on getting the most from the 20%.
The next time you hear a feature is going away, say this: “Sounds cool, but did I even know it was a feature?” It might just change your perspective.
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