As a fairly high-output Stack Overflow contributor, this is quite interesting.
It seems to say "Stack Overflow is too slow, we need something faster". I tend to think (I'm biased, of course) that SO already is rather fast; i.e. that most questions (in tags I care about) get answered rather quickly. Not only because of me, of course! I'm just a small part of the machinery.
So, what's the next step, a service where I can be registered as a helper and have a computer call me on the phone to get an answer? :)
It's not just about speed of response. There are many programming issues that don't fit the SO format. They are open ended in nature and call for a conversation.
That being said, I created desktop notifications so that I can get answers...NOW. I am able to see exactly when someone visits my page in realtime, intercept, and initiate a chat.
I like this format a lot - the discussion / real time aspect is great and will really help to preserve some of the problem solving that occurs within groups and organizations. I had fun responding to a question - until I figured out what the closed icon was and that it had been resolved hehe.
Could be my browser (FireFox ESR) but having only one line for the reply by default is a bit cramped - I only noticed the click-box to expand the text editor a bit later.
This concept could be monetized quickly and perhaps in a big way if you can saas it to web apps whose users need help in real time, but have to use the old "support ticket" mechanisms and wait and hope that their ticket gets answered quickly.
If you package your technology such that it can be embedded into any web app that has this problem, the web app could then leverage its users (its customers) to help each other out in real time.
This concept is really neat not to mention useful. It is sometimes annoying the post on traditional forums like SO and have to wait for a response you may never receive. This makes getting help seem a lot more direct and immediate. Its sort of like E-mail and Instant messaging. SO would be like Email, still useful of course, and EngineHere is the instant messaging platform for a more dynamic/instant environment..
That was the goal. As I've built it, I've been actually posting the bitly links to my issue pages on Stack Overflow, IRC, and elsewhere. I set desktop notifications for myself and go about my work until someone hits one of my pages (I then start a chat)
If they can create incentives for people to help each other (ie karma points), it would be great. Getting help with a direct feed of your command-line is just 2 commands away: pip install shellstream && startstream
I really like the idea and it has a lot of potential.
I've been beta testing this over the past few weeks, and can attest that it kicks ass. I think of it as a sort of realtime Stack Overflow--a place I can go to get answers interactively/immediately.
Been beta testing as well -- the command line interface alone takes this up a notch over Stack Overflow, with one command you can pipe system info and error messages directly into a new issue.
If that existed, I would have spent a ton last winter when I was learning Obj C.