Before Smartphones, an Army of Real People Helped You Find Stuff on Google

I was an approved GA researcher back in the day. You could make some decent money if that was what you wanted to do all day.

Interestingly, the archive is still up in all its Web 1.0 glory.

http://answers.google.com/answers/

> "...before affordable data plans, accidentally clicking the browser icon on your flip phone would make you sweat. In the early 2000s, accessing a single website could cost you as much as a cheeseburger, so not many people bothered to Google on the go."

My circa-2003 Sanyo flip had an app to stream video(!) and a browser that was very useful for simple things like Google search. Back then, before it became the preferred way to upsell, unlimited data was a $10 (later $15) monthly addon for me in the US.

It wasn't until I'd outgrown that flip, a Treo, and two HTC WinMo phones that it crept up to $30/mo for unlimited 3G data. With later phones the whole price structure had changed for the worse so I ended up switching carriers and data had mostly stopped being a flat addon to a phone plan.