IME, if I know the load, it might affect my strategy of where I choose a seat to try to get an empty middle (or how affect far back I should sit if I'm flying with a companion who's not A-list). I'm not terribly picky with seats though, so not a big deal if I know the load or not (though I did like to peek at the screens before the IT switchover, since the load numbers were pretty easy to read)