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Makes me wonder if there's an opportunity here. Some service where you can actually pay money up front to guarantee an answer to your question, regardless of ho

by CM30 10y ago

Makes me wonder if there's an opportunity here. Some service where you can actually pay money up front to guarantee an answer to your question, regardless of how it's worded and expect it done within a short time frame. Kind of like the Stack Exchange sites, except for people with more money than patience. Practically speaking though, my advice for people stuck on something like this is (in addition to doing some actual research and wording your question correctly) to not ask on question and answer sites at all. Stack Overflow is nice and all (especially when looking up answers to already answered questions), but I tend to get a lot more useful responses from forums and subreddits. Perhaps because people there tend not to get so high strung over idiocy.

ori_b 10y ago
I think that's called a support contract.
protomyth 10y ago
That would be quite an interesting site. I put up some cash in my account and then ask a question. It would be an interesting dynamic if other people needing the same answer added money to the bounty for the answer, or even the original person upping the offer. Easy revenue stream as a tax on the bounty. That would be a fun one.
planteen 10y ago
You are going to get in situations where the "answer" brings up a topic like the "halting problem". The asker might not be satisfied with that. Or what if the asker has a misunderstanding of computer architecture? "Help, my multithreaded program is crashing!"
- CM30 10y ago
  That's a good point, and there will definitely be issues with question askers not knowing how a system works or how the person answering is explaining the solution to their problem. However, it's also the kind of thing tech support has to deal with every day to begin with. I mean, your web host likely gets tons of ridiculous questions through their support ticket system. They just have to go back and forth a ton of times until either both sides can reach an understanding or the person asking just gives up. Honestly, I don't have an answer here. Not sure there even is a good one, given how it's the same problem every company struggles with when customer support is involved.
DanBC 10y ago
> Makes me wonder if there's an opportunity here. Some service where you can actually pay money up front to guarantee an answer to your question, regardless of how it's worded and expect it done within a short time frame. Kind of like the Stack Exchange sites, except for people with more money than patience. Bountify sort of fits this. https://bountify.co/ https://bountify.co/
franciscop 10y ago
There is one platform where I am in but as many freelancer marketplaces with free entry it's a sh*tshow and a race to the bottom, so I won't even bother recommending it.
deleted 10y ago
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grkvlt 10y ago
Except that the money people will be willing to offer will almost certainly not cover the amount required by any competent professional to pay for their time, i.e USD 100+ per hour. And if someone is willing to pay, say, five hundred dollars for a complex solution that requires effectively half a days consulting, they'd probably be better to just hire an actual consultant.

by CM30 10y ago

ori_b 10y ago

I think that's called a support contract.

protomyth 10y ago

That would be quite an interesting site. I put up some cash in my account and then ask a question. It would be an interesting dynamic if other people needing the same answer added money to the bounty for the answer, or even the original person upping the offer. Easy revenue stream as a tax on the bounty. That would be a fun one.

planteen 10y ago

You are going to get in situations where the "answer" brings up a topic like the "halting problem". The asker might not be satisfied with that. Or what if the asker has a misunderstanding of computer architecture? "Help, my multithreaded program is crashing!"

CM30 10y ago
That's a good point, and there will definitely be issues with question askers not knowing how a system works or how the person answering is explaining the solution to their problem. However, it's also the kind of thing tech support has to deal with every day to begin with. I mean, your web host likely gets tons of ridiculous questions through their support ticket system. They just have to go back and forth a ton of times until either both sides can reach an understanding or the person asking just gives up. Honestly, I don't have an answer here. Not sure there even is a good one, given how it's the same problem every company struggles with when customer support is involved.

DanBC 10y ago

> Makes me wonder if there's an opportunity here. Some service where you can actually pay money up front to guarantee an answer to your question, regardless of how it's worded and expect it done within a short time frame. Kind of like the Stack Exchange sites, except for people with more money than patience. Bountify sort of fits this. https://bountify.co/ https://bountify.co/

franciscop 10y ago

There is one platform where I am in but as many freelancer marketplaces with free entry it's a sh*tshow and a race to the bottom, so I won't even bother recommending it.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

grkvlt 10y ago

Except that the money people will be willing to offer will almost certainly not cover the amount required by any competent professional to pay for their time, i.e USD 100+ per hour. And if someone is willing to pay, say, five hundred dollars for a complex solution that requires effectively half a days consulting, they'd probably be better to just hire an actual consultant.