Gov. Tim Walz explains how 8-Track players work:
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I think it is mandatory to have an 8-track in one of those babies
I never understood how it worked.
Love him any more, I mean. 
Maybe it's partly because I'm a fellow midwesterner, but to me, he's more like the guy next door than any other politician I've ever laid eyes on. He's just so real.
I hardly knew a thing about him when his name started coming up as a possible running mate for Kamala, but so many people here at DU spoke very highly of him that I couldn't help but have a positive impression of him. I had no idea, though, how great he really was, until she introduced him as her running mate in Philly. He's been repeatedly bowling me over ever since.
I just can't get over how perfect they are together! 
...most commonly those on the AM band. They were called "carts" (tape cartridges); they weren't exactly the same as 8-track cartridges, but they were of a similar design. Actually, I believe that it was the other way around--the "carts" came first, then the consumer version (the 8-track). "Carts" were often used for commercials and other frequently-played selections (station ID, etc.). It was a technology that held on into the '90s, believe it or not.
You are correct, however, that the technology kinda sucked. Part of the problem was that the 8-track cartridges and the tape decks themselves were often full of compromises and corner-cutting. Apparently there were some really well-made 8-track decks for home stereos, but that was way before my time. And it wasn't like cassettes were a big improvement when it came to mobile use. I remember all those in-dash cassette decks in Hondas (it seemed like every model of Honda had one) that inevitably ate my most valuable tapes. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8-track_cartridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidelipac
...I was a kid (Gen Xer), so I have little experience with them. However, a few neighbors still had aging stereo systems with an 8-track player (the really fancy systems even had a complete 8-track deck--playback and recording). So I got to see them just before they were gone for good, and I can't say I was very impressed. The main issue seemed to be that there usually wasn't enough tape on one stereo track to contain an entire side of an LP album--even those of standard length. So all sorts of silly things had to be done to make things fit, including fade outs/fade ins. I recall the later Beatles records falling victim to this sort of technological Bowdlerization quite often.
I wore it out!
