I sing a parody based on John Lennon’s beautiful song “Imagine’ to conclude my “Mindfully Safe” keynote. It’s a great way to end a talk, and it always gets the audience to laugh. But I’ve had to change the lyrics since I first wrote them because popular tech apps and devices keep changing.

The first line used to be “Imagine there’s no cell phone.” Now it’s “smartphone.” I’ve also included Snapchat and Instagram in the lyrics.

Isn’t it crazy how fast this social communication stuff is progressing?!  And it has become deeply embedded in our society and not without severe consequences.

The Cyber Effect by Mary Aiken, Ph.D. which among other cyber impact topics, the author delves into how smartphones and other online media devices mold our children. Not pretty. It’s not all gloom and doom; Aiken gives hope and practical advice on reducing the negative impact of social technology.

I love my smartphone. And I think “love” is the right word because, like the feeling you have for a new romance, I feel like I can’t live without it. At least I act that way because I always know where it is, and it is usually by my side, literally stuck to my belt or in my hands. So I have to purposely put it away or turn it off to help me be mindful of the “real world.

This didn’t take many years to happen. The first laptop computer available to the public was the Osborne 1, released in 1981, a mere 40 years ago. It had a five-inch screen, and the keyboard was in the computer’s lid (Price:$1795). So look at what we got now and what it has done to our positive and negative world.

What will it be like in 2061? We can’t know, only guess, but I believe the positive and negative will grow exponentially with technology.

Here are the lyrics to “Imagine” (there’s no smartphone)

Imagine there’s no smartphone

I know it’s hard to do

No iPad either or Twitter too

Imagine all the people

Watching while they drive, whoo hoo

Imagine there’s no Facebook

We’d have nothing to do

No Youtube or Snapchat

And no Instagram too

Imagine all the people

Talking without a Bluetooth oooo

You may say I’m a meanie

And that you won’t have any fun

I may be a dreamer

But I just want our kids

To get some sun!