The rating was the minimum number of reads the motors in the CD drive of the Playstation would work for. Most likely, the rating was really low compared to what the drives could actually do.

It might not have hah. Early version Playstation 1 consoles had notoriously bad CD drives that failed all the time. It had something to do with poor quality plastic gearing on the laser carrier or something.

Would certainly be interesting to compare Crash Bandicoot playtime on failed vs. working units.

Limit is not on "reads", but seeks - its about sled wear. Sony infamously used plastic laser sled skid in first revisions.

https://github.com/JonathanDotCel/psx_clean_laser_mirror

https://psxplanetcodes.tripod.com/repair.htm

Plastic, unlike brass, wears out quickly due to friction. Quickest test was flipping PSX upside down, worn out sled unit would start playing perfectly again in this orientation.

so Yes, there was a rather low seek (move up and down) limit on first units caused by cheap design and inferior manufacturing process.