Having a communal music collection being played on random can be really fun. You experience new music and get to hear old favorites. However, not everyone shares the same taste. Sometimes, you absolutely need to just skip the song coming on, for the sake of everyone involved. That was how the Panic button was born.

Starting with a joke panic button that would play an alarm sound, they promptly tore the guts out.  They inserted a minimus board, which has an AT90USB162 its brain, and includes onboard USB hardware.  When you slap the panic button, it emulates the key press that goes to the next track, thereby saving everyone from whatever monstrosity was threatening their ear drums.