True, but judges are actually reluctant to do the readbacks, as well. It is the minimum they can do, and it's all they do.
When I was on a jury, the judge told us that if we had questions or wanted readbacks, he had to bring in both attorneys and the defendent from wherever they were at the time, and he obviously didn't want to to that unless we REALLY wanted something. For the answer to one of our questions, he just sent us a note that said, "Read your written instructions from me, again." And he was quite a nice judge, too.