This is really two feature requests rolled into one, because they are interdependent.  

Reason:
Almost all the touch UIs I have seen have no min/max/close.  Of course, most do not allow windowed computing, and require all windows to be maximized.  Gnome-shell is trying to stride two worlds, being both highly optimized for touch, but also allow for windowed computing.  I think the best solution may be to remove the traditional, closely spaced min/max/close with intuitive contextual equivalents, and thereby make it easier for Gnome to display true fullscreen a-la other touch/tablet solutions like Palm Pre and the iPhone.
 
Feature request No 1: remove max/min/close window widgets, replace their functionality with contextual widgets and window dragging.  For instance, even if there were no window command widgets, the user could still close the window using the “x” in Overlay.  The user could also drag the window to the top of the screen to maximize, or drag to the bottom of the screen to minimize.  This seems like a highly intuitive way of controlling windows, and more finger-friendly than traditional little widgets which can be pressed by mistake because they are so close together.  Also, traditional window widgets really limit what can be done integrating a window with the rest of the desktop environment, i.e. maximized vs. true fullscreen.

Feature request No. 2: integrate the title-bar into the top panel when window is maximized.  By removing window control widgets makes it easier to integrate the window title-bar with the top panel, saving vertical space, and also removing visual clutter.  To maximize, just drag a window to the top panel, and it sinks into place much like the Canonical people have been talking about.  To un-max, just drag the window back down.  To close, go to the Overlay view, and press the close “x.”