Refresh does have a bit of an "implementation model of yesteryear" feel to it. On the other hand I've never observed it to be a massive pain point for users and removing it would need to be done very carefully so as not to create more problems than it solves.
A warning from experience if you are thinking of implementing Alan Cooper's theories on the topic of legacy UI: Be very careful when removing conventional things because they seem archaic and make sure that they respond to a genuine pain point and your dev team has the chops to fully implement the solution you propose. Otherwise you're going to end up with a half-arsed unconventional UI which will just confuse everyone.