If we had the Internet in college
It made me think... what if the Internet was as mainstream today as it was when I was in college (fall '91 to spring '95)? I remember busting my ass on crappy work-study jobs, along with my radio gig, just to pay the rent my senior year. I was lucky to clear $300 for a month working 80+ hours. Not a lot of beer money, or money to buy other essential items like CD's and a replacement VCR when my hand-me-down died. I also wouldn't have had to settle for my ancient IBM PS/2 Model 25 with no hard drive (though ironically it was my first computer used to touch the Net).
Today, nearly every kid in college has a computer, a laptop even, with a wired dorm. There isn't a doubt in my mind that if I were in college today, I'd have some site and I'd clear a grand a month to seriously party. I might have even studied now and then.
And the effects aren't limited just to income. My former volleyball kids, now in college, are always connected and online. They're there in my buddy list 24/7. There's a totally different social culture aided by the Internet. I don't know if that would've resulted in fewer lonely nights or just a different means to receive a booty call, but it would be different, regardless.
Maybe the weirdest thing is just that life hasn't changed much in ten years now that we have a mainstream Internet. On the other hand, everything has changed. It's a very strange dichotomy.