[Marsupial]

the 70s "stereo" console we had used a 1" cylinder with included mechanism for changing 45s. We could stack 10-15 of them. the mechanism was WAY BETTER then the slanted stack rod used for the LPs. Even as a young kid I recognized that. Although we never had issues with non-changing LPs, but the drop seemed to be more prone to damage the record than the way it fell on the 45s.

regarding changing the standard for smaller holes. that would have made little sense. A big part of the market for singles has always been the jukebox company, until they made CD ones; about when 45s stopped being produced. Making 45s with smaller holes would have been incompatible with jukes still in operation, plus a certain quantity of 45s players still in existence. You cannot change a standard in a non-backward-compatible fashion just because you stop producing the reader; that wouldn't be good marketing.