> only in synchronous conversation will you get the back-and-forth "wait what? How's that work?" There is something to be gained from synchronous conversation,

> only in synchronous conversation will you get the back-and-forth "wait what? How's that work?" There is something to be gained from synchronous conversation, but what you've listed can be done asynchronously. In either case, my point was IRC doesn't have to always be synchronous. When you're both available, the conversation can be synchronous. I agree that there is a huge benefit from having a synchronous, spoken conversation, but my reply was contesting that "Understudy gives you is a one-to-one relationship with another person who cares" in contrast to IRC. IRC can do exactly that, so what sells Understudy is certainly something different.