Imagine a world where smartphones arrived decades before the internet became part of everyday life. People in the 1960s could have carried a camera, computer, and connection to the world in their pockets, changing how they experienced some of history’s biggest events.The moon landing could have been watched through millions of live streams, while Woodstock might have become one of the first huge selfie events. Artists such as Andy Warhol could even have become early social media celebrities.But the biggest changes might have involved politics, war, and activism. If smartphones had appeared in the 1960s with modern internet access, cameras, apps, social media, and livestreaming, history could have taken a very different path.One of the most significant effects would have been on the Vietnam War. The conflict became known as the first “television war” because images from the battlefield helped shape public opinion in the United States.At the time, getting footage from Vietnam to American viewers was relatively slow. Journalists had to transport film and reports back to editors before they could be shown on television.With smartphones, reporters could have photographed and livestreamed events almost instantly. Civilians could also have shared their own experiences, giving people around the world direct access to events that might otherwise have taken days to reach them.That instant communication could have transformed the antiwar movement. Instead of depending on newspapers, flyers, and word of mouth, protesters could have created enormous online communities and organized demonstrations almost instantly.The same technology could have dramatically changed Woodstock, another defining moment of the decade.Woodstock is remembered as a celebration of music and counterculture, but the festival had serious problems. Organizers struggled with enormous crowds, shortages of food and toilets, piles of garbage, and other logistical failures.If hundreds of thousands of attendees had smartphones, those problems could have spread across social media within hours. Performers might have seen the negative reaction and decided not to appear, potentially turning Woodstock from a legendary cultural event into a massive failure.The effects would not have stopped in the 1960s. If smartphones had been invented then, they would have had roughly six extra decades to evolve.Today’s smartphones might therefore look primitive. People could use advanced contact lenses to display digital information, control devices with their voices, and rely heavily on artificial intelligence.Augmented reality could also become a normal part of everyday life, blending digital information with the physical world. The smartphone might eventually stop being a device we carry and become an invisible layer connecting us to a digital environment.There would also be a major difference in the people using this technology. Entire generations would have grown up with smartphones, social media, and constant connectivity from childhood through old age.We already debate the effects of smartphones on younger people, including concerns about reduced face to face interaction and shorter attention spans. After several generations of constant connectivity, those effects could become even more difficult to predict.Some people might eventually prefer digital environments to the physical world, spending much of their lives inside increasingly realistic simulations.In that future, the smartphone would no longer be something that connects us to the digital world. It could become the technology that makes the digital world feel like reality itself.