Bidding does affect the play, and early outrageous bids certainly turn one off - when "i'll just have a quick go" comes back with 1700 and the first bid "nice'n'easy" is 3200.
As is said above, it has been much debated.
In the end, it is clear that the keen players all enjoy the bidding war, and its the keen ones who are playing and keeping it going. As Andrew++ pointed out, its only delaying the inevitable anyway.
I don't like bidding, but I'm certain its an integral part of the game at the moment, and it should just be left alone.
[unless and until you start an N league with no bids and no superplayers (cf MarkM)
*enters loop in perpetual motion* ]