[chucker]

Oh, absolutely. Upon first glance, taking such a crucial feature away doesn't just seem like a radical step; it seems like an idiotic one.

Dumbing down an interface, however, has many advantages. Consciously, the user notices how flexibility is being taken away, and perceives this as negative. Subconsciously, however, the opposite happens: each interface item ultimately corresponds to a choice that has to be made. Because many people react to an overwhelming amount of choices with anxiety and either ask someone else or just give up altogether, removing such choices (and therefore, such interface items) is beneficial especially in situations where the choices would not do much to help.

The iPod shuffle is such a case. A display and a scroll wheel would strongly encourage you to scroll through the list to pick your next song. By taking this ability away from you, you are no longer confronted with the problem. You can still skip over songs, but otherwise, you simply follow a linear, predefined playlist which, while listening to it, you don't have to worry about at all.