You know that this was an actual case with some publicity? Regarding throwing a bunch of information at the user, while a binary "good" vs "bad" would do, this is ultimately an argument to authority and neither enabling nor enlightening. Moreover, who became this authority on what merits and by what process?
MS removing the Start button on the Windows 8 desktop in favor of the tiles of the Modern UI start page (formerly Metro) for a more mobile-like, simpler, and allegedly purer/cleaner app experience, massive user protests, and MS finally reintroducing the Start button and the Start menu. Never heard of this?
Oh, if that's what you were talking about then I don't understand your comment at all.
The start menu doesn't occupy space during normal use. (That's why I though you meant the start button.)
You were talking about getting rid of something that occupied space, but they didn't get rid of the start menu. In fact they made it bigger when activated.
And the changes they made had nothing to do with whether the user can control their device.
So I don't think any argument based on the windows 8 start menu is suitable for saying that an extra bar is a good idea.
The button did occupy some space and MS apparently went for a "cleaner" (and simpler) look. Also, the traditional start menu was found to be too complex. (The entire Modern UI revolution with Full screen apps in the front was about a mobile-like simplification on the desktop.) I do see some parallels to this.
