Live programming help

Posted by frazras on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by frazras
Published on 2012-07-01T19:52:37Z Indexed on 2012/07/01 21:23 UTC
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This idea has been floating around my head for a few years. I started some work on it but I just want to know if it is feasible, sensible, or if there is something else like it out there. Dont want to know I was wasting time on a solved issue.

Whenever I have a programming issue, this is my sequence:

  1. Google it!: That usually brings up a lot of things: blogs, forums, stackoverflow, stackexchange, and even the official docs of the language/framework/cms.
  2. Ask on IRC: I format my question and try to get people on IRC to help me.
  3. Make a post: I create a post on forums/stackoverflow/stackexchange or shout on twitter with hashtags.

Now a lot of the time I am in the middle of a project with a deadline. So I want answers NOW!!! Sometimes just 5-15 minutes worth of attention. Usually by the time I am failing at getting answers at #2, I am imagining how many people are ONLINE NOW with the skill and my exact answer but playing video games, watching youtube or idling online. However, if they were motivated, they would invest the 15 mintes helping me, that would make a world of a difference. I am even in positions where I would PAY for that 15 minutes of instant help. If your rate is as much as $100/hour (relatively good programmer) that is $25 that might save me 3 hours. This help would be live, text chat/skype/phone/screenshare.

Should I continue developing this idea or is there a better alternative out there? Or is this even an unfeasible idea?

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