If you were an adult in the early 2000s, especially in a major city like NY you will recall things like this in a lot of coffee shops and delis/bodegas. In 2000, before I had a computer (and for several years after that before I got a portable laptop or iPhone that I could bring with me) of my own Id either go to the library or a coffee shop where you signed up on a sheet for a limited amount of time on one of the computers in the seating area (anyone remember Alt.coffee on ave A?)
Update: my friend who ran that place (in Manhattan) said they charged 10 bucks an hour. 2.50 for 15 minutes in the early 2000s.
