To my mind 5E finally got the Bard right - the formula shouldn't be .5/.5/.5, but more like .8/.8/.8 - while it looks unbalanced on paper, it's limited by the fact that a single character can still only do one thing at a time, and is powerful enough to actually make a difference. The problem in the d20 system was that any "hybrid" class would rapidly be dramatically outclassed in every way - 5E got it right, making the Bard powerful enough to actually fill the roles it's needed for.
Though I must say, the idea of making them less of a caster and more of a face does interest me a bit - making something like the Starfinder Envoy class, which is one of the most interesting implementations of this idea I've seen to date, or perhaps mechanically more like the Warlock, as mentioned above. But for now the 5E core version suits me just fine.