I don't think I've ever had a more satisfying music listening experience than my original iPod Shuffle, the white stick one which plugged in directly as a USB drive. The simplicity of the switch on the back that toggled between shuffle and non-shuffled modes was perfect. I could load up around 300 of my favorite songs (which, as a high schooler in the heady days of Kazaa and ilk, was about all I possessed), know exactly what I was going to get, and could play hunt-and-seek by toggling between my known playlist order and shuffle. And that was it! No screen getting constant notifications, no navigating through ever-changing hierarchies (looking at you, Music on iOS app), and I didn't even need to be OCD about album art at that point.
Ah, the glory days... :)