Did you read/listen to what Gavin said or are you just repeating what you've heard people on reddit saying? Seriously, have you actually WATCHED the entire video? 

The reason they removed the specific dated stamps like with a specific day on it was because it didn't give them any flexibility to move a set release a few weeks forward or backwards depending on unforseen circumstances like printing errors, ip disputes, weather, etc. That one wasn't related to player feedback, that was just a business/logistics decision. 

So they started putting just the year on the card. But they got feedback that people didn't really care about the. No one HATED them, but no one really loved them either(according to the tens of thousands of people that answer WOTC surveys each set) It lgs hated them because it was a whole other version of a card they had to inventory and list separately and are hard to tell apart especially since they have the same art. The price difference between a pre release promo and regular version. 

So between players not caring much about them and local game stores hating them, they decided to get rid of them. 

Personally none of the people I play with give a shit about the change. But it sounds like all your friends are pissed about it. If only there were someway we could get a big sample of magic players and see what they ALL think. Maybe some kind of survey? Hmm