It was to show you that the 200x gain for lm386 is closed loop gain.
Again, not related. We don't care why it's only 200, if it made and sealed, and there is no way to unrolled it back. What is "operational" means, that you can design a feedback (negative/positive) in a variety ways, to create any math "operation" - differential, integral or proportional. The higher gain, the easier it could be done. Device with low gain is not "operational". Just amplifier.