>>105723478
I genuinely think that reasons you have listed are the same reasons that made Echo Mini such a big hit. Turns out if you ditch the postal stamp sized touch screen, replace it with distinct physical buttons, put in the light plastic case and sell for 50 bucks, people will buy and enjoy it.
It does it's own fair share of problems (how the fuck you make a player in 2025 without gapless playback is beyond me), but as a modern ipod shuffle it works beautifully.