Devices were getting cheaper, not quite to mass adoption but getting there, however service wasn’t nearly universal like it is today. There were whole towns and even some suburbs that didn’t have coverage yet. It wasn’t until the introduction of 3G (around like 2006, if memory serves) that phones got cheap and service became blanket for most people.

Do they not sell kids joke books in the check out line at the grocery store anymore? Used to be tons of those.