A pioneer Internet user is changing his tune nearly twenty years after the technology’s introduction into the American lifestyle.

Clifford Stoll, astronomer and computer security and network expert, presented “Stop the Internet … I Want to Get Off!” to nearly 300 people at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Stoll said after 20 years, he is not sure if the technology is living up to the bright future it once held.

“I’ve become quite disenchanted with what was once new and bright,” Stoll said of the Internet.

There are many myths surrounding the Internet in our lives today, Stoll said. One of those myths is that future jobs will depend on knowing about computers and how to compute. In the future, jobs will not be as focused on computers as is thought, he said.

There will still be truck drivers, doctors, ballerinas and dentists, and “they will be as essential then as they are now,” Stoll said. The funny thing, he said, is that these jobs do not require computers now and they will not require them in the future.

“I don’t care if my dentist has a cool Web page or has good computer skills … I care if he can fill my tooth without hurting me,” Stoll said. “The more time you spend with your head logged into the Internet, the less you’ll build the ability to inspire and trust. You can’t get that online.”

These skills are important for people to build on when looking for jobs because, Stoll said, the ability to communicate is essential in any career.

“People don’t lose jobs because they can’t compute, they lose jobs because they can’t communicate,” Stoll said. “If we are trying to create a country where no one knows each other … then we should spend more time watching TV and on the Internet.”

Stoll predicts that in the future many jobs will not have computers and won’t want them. There will always be jobs for computer programmers, but society does not run on only these people, he said.

The technology push has caused schools to get “wired” in hopes of making students familiar with technology to prepare them for their futures, Stoll said.

Tom Frizelle, graduate student in curriculum and instruction technology, said “technology is used inappropriately a lot in education. Software and computers aren’t used well all the time and it can detract from what the class is doing.”

Stoll said people need to question what problems new technology solves.

“If the problems that our schools face are that students have poor study habits, are not disciplined, or watch too much TV … computers will not solve the problem,” Stoll said.

Stoll said the Internet and computers are wonderful tools, but need to be used in the right way.

Paul Gratton, an ISU alumnus, said, “I like his point that technology does not make the teacher better, but that it’s just a channel for them to work through.”

Dave Esdell, a graduate student in physics, disagreed.

“I don’t agree with [Stoll] … there are bad things about computers and the Internet, but there are also good things. I think he makes sweeping generalizations. I couldn’t do my thesis without them and students couldn’t do papers without them.”

Stoll said using educational software gets the same result as more traditional methods of teaching, including flash cards.

Buying a software program to teach someone arithmetic tells them “I have bought this for you. Spend a half hour on the computer to learn it,” Stoll said. Taking a half an hour to teach someone arithmetic with flash cards sends a message that the student is important, he said.