Eh, I don't think this is the case.
I think they just didn't think hard enough about what an organizational nightmare things would become when they started meeting customer demand for things like feats and PRCs.
I think they wanted a system that allowed character options and variation, but just didn't understand what the "stackable" nature of everything would do.
I also don't really think PRCs were originally intended to play as big a role as they ended up playing. (Causing an unplanned area of expansion.)
This go around, not only do I think they learned a bit about how expandable systems work game wise, but also how they work organizationally. Right now in
4e there is a lot of info out there, but very little that EVERYONE at the table needs access to at all times.
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