Item must be column #1 - why?
 

Suppose a user wants to place a priority column to the left of the item in first position for readability?

Agreed.

Another example:
One of the first things I did was make a search in which Lineage is shown as a column. That way I can easily see which project (and above lying folders!) a task belongs to.

In that case I'd prefer the Lineage column left of the Item Title, but that doesn't seem possible.

Hmmmm, and:
Any kind of unique Info Item numbering would be more logical left of the Item Title than to the right.

View | Choose Columns, then select and move the desired column to the top. The next release will also allow a column to be dragged all the way to the left within the Related Items pane itself.

Ahhhh. Thanks. I didn't expect that to work.

Thank you Kinook

note that once you do that, user is allowed to remove item title from the list of displayed attributes, and then it no longer appears on this list for possible adding.

also something strange happens to title of tab if open in a tabbed window

tab title
 

Tab title seems to be tied to first column instead of item title