Actually... as I write this, I realize you're hinting at something I think exists, in a form: a digital voice recorder. (Aka Dictaphone, since we're in the nostalgia thread.)
Edit: And right in front of me is a Tascam DR-40, which is a handheld recorder which takes stereo in (or internal mic) onto SD card. Very un kid friendly but simpler devices must surely exist.
And probably because of DRM/intellectual property/anti-piracy lockdown of consumer computing devices. The success of the iTunes ecosystem was because Napster was the statistically likely alternative future for the intellectual property industries.
Stereo recording and playback, SD card, only one giant "rec" button on the front panel, about three adjusting buttons (mp3 vs wav selection for recording, etc) on the back panel, and some on the sides. Naturally, it also has line/mic-in. Notably, it also works as a USB microphone; and I used mine as the audio interface for an old Thinkpad T42 with great success.
The sound quality is considered very good for its price.
Only thing that annoyed me was the slowness of forward and rewind. Also, as with all SD-card devices, there's still a lag when you switch from one file to another. Compared to the instant-on playback from a cassette, it does feel cumbersome.
I miss cassettes, too, even if I don't remember being really thrilled about all that ff-ing or rew-ing in the 90s.
I still use my Sandisk Sansa Clip bought in 2008 for podcasts and music. Use it almost every day. 2GB internal storage, no SD card. Sturdy, simple unit, great sound quality. Works flawlessly after all these years.
The Zoom H1’s run about $125 new.
A cassette recorder is $25 new despite all the additional material and logistics costs.
I was surprised that there is nothing in that price range.
I wound up buying a Tascam DR 05. It was about $125 at the time. eBay’d a year later. I just couldn’t commit to its interface abstractions and workflow.
It lived in the space where the software was motivated toward making design and manufacture easier rather than the use pleasurable.
If I have to menu dive every time I use it, why not just use my phone? Or tape since I can use a pen to name things…not scroll through 128 options one letter at a time.
And to be clear, not using my phone (or laptop) is why I buy hardware.
Run with --extract-audio to make that a single step? Could script it, too, maybe even including copying to the SD card.
But playing music in public versus over headphones is more musical...it's not just what live musicians do, DJ'ing is also a thing.
As is audio engineering, which requires the willingness to do more work than seems reasonable to others to get the sound you want. And her workflow certainly looks a lot like that.