I suspect the recording were either much smaller (Let's call it 30 songs which seems insane still if compared to an ipod but it wouldn't exist for several years.) or there was audiophile quality hardware in it in which case carrying 1 album HiFi wasn't too bad. You could change it out after school the day you get bored of it.

I think it held 8 songs, actually.

This was the 90s, though. The alternative was a CD player. MiniDisc was still a thing.