Not all cd players had an accessible lens. A car deck had a slot insert and there was no way to get at the lens without disassembling the whole thing.
Computer CD players also had a tray that extended so the lens was mostly hidden.
Boomboxes and portable CD players had pop up lids where you could see the lens, but there were probably an equal number of players where you couldn't access it.
No, that's why it's so cheap.
You can only install Damn Small Linux with no window manager.