People didn't get paid, but they got rewarded in other ways: attribution, gratitude, community. If I tell an immigrant what I do, there's a pretty good chance that their face will light up because they've used my website. It makes me giddy with pride.

I don't think most people will bother writing anything without an audience, nor will they carefully choose their words if they're fed into a machine.

Yes, the internet had ads, but it had scores of excellent free content, a lot of it crafted with love. God forbid some people find a way to live from making free useful things.