On top of what everyone else has been saying... beer! The proliferation of small breweries has led the quality of beer in general to go up in many countries. Talking about a "good American beer" is no longer an oxymoron.
Also, as an academic: the democratization of knowledge (as exemplified by, say, Google Scholar) is really nice. Previously, people studying topics had to pore through obscure abstract guides in order to try to find something related to what their research is about. Now I can find all sorts of papers with just a couple of clicks... and some of them are from previously unexplored corners of knowledge. This really helps to build connections between fields, as well as within them
