Maybe where you live, some other places are much, much more expensive.
If you want one, you could probably find a decent refurbished Thinkpad on eBay or something. Just make sure the radio it has is compatible with whatever spectrums your carrier uses. Tablets also have options for cellular radios.
You can also just buy a new one, but refurbs are good deals if you're on a budget.
I'd agree. I kind of developed a Pavlovian response of excitement to the noise. Back then though, the Internet was nothing like it is now though. There was a time when we didn't even have websites, we had stuff like Internet Relay Chat (still around actually), Usenet, and subscription services like America Online. There was Gopher, but it really wasn't the same as the web.
That is absolutely an option, you can spec out multiple laptops with cellular radios. It isn't standard because it costs extra and most people aren't going to pay an additional bill for another cell line. Typically they're more common to enterprise environments with people out in the field a lot.
Hotspots are probably still the more common option though, at least in my experience.
There's definitely things to learn like what bait what fish like, where and when to fish, how to free a snag, how to reel a fish in without losing it, but I'd argue that learning patience is equally important
I'll try looping, that's a good trick!