Ask HN: Would you pay $25 to get an answer to a programming question?

3 points by TechHawk 9 years ago | 8 comments

Imagine that you are just starting with web development and get stuck somewhere, or you are an experienced developer but want advice or a second set of eyes.

Would you be willing to pay, lets say $25, to get your question answered? How about less or more?

There is Stack Overflow, you might say. But on Stack Overflow, there are rules and guidelines to follow, an account to create, specific questions that are allowed and not allowed, a sometimes unwelcoming environment, etc. (https://hackernoon.com/the-decline-of-stack-overflow-7cb69faa575d#.28828d28e).

What do you think about this?

onion2k 9 years ago |

Maybe, but with one caveat. I would want to have the advice from 2 or more people, and only if they couldn't see each other's responses. It's hard to know when programming advice is wrong if you're not familiar with a language or a framework, so there'd be no way to know if the advice was actually useful. If I could get 2 or 3 people's answers to the question and they were all the same that would increase my confidence that they're actually right, and that my $25 was well spent.

As a developer I would also be quite happy to sit with a chat app open answering questions for $5 each if I could choose what to answer and there weren't too many problems actually getting paid.

TechHawk 9 years ago | |

Thank you very much for your feedback and ideas! I truly appreciate it!

Great point about having multiple people answer the question! Others also brought up that point, so it is certainly something to look out for.

The chat app idea makes a lot of sense. Why would "there weren't too many problems actually getting paid" be important for you?

theoneone 9 years ago |

25€? No. Maybe 5-10€ depending on how complex is the question and of course depending on the programming language. Of course the response time is essential, let's say within 1 hour( I could use a break and come back late with a solution). Maybe a subscription model or even credits is fine by me. The answer would be fiddle or written solution( there's your pricing model). Also I would like 2 independent answers like others said( with extra € ) Stack overflow is a good place but sometimes it takes too long( there is bounty of course you can't 'buy' more rep). Choosing who will answer it is also an option( maybe from which country, for various reasons) Nice idea, give it a go!

TechHawk 9 years ago | |

Thank you very much for your feedback and ideas, I truly appreciate it!

You raise a lot of good points. One of my main concerns is the pricing model: 5-10€ would be quiet appropriate for small questions that take a few minutes to answer, but is too low for more complex questions that require research. On top of that, it also matters where the person answering the questions comes from since rates vary from country to country. I do not want this to become a place like, for example, Upwork where things tend to be a race to the bottom and you have people answering complex questions for 50 cents. What did you mean with "there's your pricing model"?

theoneone 9 years ago | | |

Sorry, I meant pricing options. I the user wants fiddler then he could pay more. A writing explaination of the answer could be cheaper.

criptonny 9 years ago |

No, it's easier, faster than free to just google the problem and find the answer on stackoverflow

TechHawk 9 years ago | |

Thanks for your feedback!

Certainly... at times. However, I have spent hours before trying to find an answer or needed a good answer quickly. Was there ever a time where a service like that would have been handy for you?