The fact it's a record and you can't pause/rewind keeps you less distracted. It really is a different experience even if you "simulated it" and had the machine play the right digital file once you loaded a particular record.
It also completely gets rid of skips and shuffle-play. And a song can't "grow on you" if you always skip it.
There is literally nothing stopping you from pausing/rewinding/fast fowarding/shuffling a record.
You have to get up and move the stylus; I’ve never seen a record player that could shuffle on its own.