I manage a few different SMF boards, and on each board I find the Info Center to be undesirable.
It's a great feature for hobbyists, or for social groups... but my groups are more task-oriented (think mil) and uninterested in forum stats, who's online, etc.
It would be great if there was a toggle that would hide the Info Center completely. I have modified the PHP code to hide the Info Center myself - as others have requested/documented before me - but it would be nice to not need to remember to re-do this action after every software update.
you could just use CSS.....
but there is an option to have the minimal info displayed.
However, I think that your system is an edge case and doesn't reflect the general usage of the software.
I often view Who's online to see what other members find interesting. Never mind what "guests" are viewing, more often than not these days, mostly bots not actual humans are the guests.
Who would not find that useful?
Just another point of view. Carry on.