What do you know, I just tried streaming music from the Touch/USB drive combo to my laptop and it works. FLAC 16/44 files.
The Touch interface is super easy to use. If they can use an iPhone/iTouch to play music then the SB Touch isn't that much different. You also have access to a pant load of radio stations (and the radio station logo is displayed too), which is what I use a lot of the time.