RSS should not be a core functionality of a web browser but guess what should? Google Now... I like Google Now but why can't it be implemented as an extension? Does it really make sense to have Google services entangled with the browser? With sync it is at least possible to deploy your own server even if the option is hidden behind a flag (and google refuses to add an option in the UI). And then there is the new tab page with another search bar just some hundred pixels below the omnibar that has the same functionality. And a new launcher... When applications start implementing their own launchers it's usually a sign they are becoming bloated. Remember Nero (not so) SmartStart?

This a team of amazingly smart people who reinvented the browser so probably there are good reasons supporting these decisions and I'm not smart enough to understand them.