Slashdot Mirror
The Tech Support of the Crowds
professorhojo writes "News.com reports on an innovative new use for instant messaging, meant to connect up strangers who need tech support with experts in their field. From the article: 'In my experience, the best technical support on any product will come from somebody who actually uses and likes the product, not a paid support rep following a script ... If you can't wait for a response in a message board, you can try a new service, Qunu, which is trying to replicate the message board community spirit, but in real time. [It] connects you via instant message to an expert on the topic you need help with. We already know that crowds are wise. They're altruistic and they love to talk, too. Qunu harnesses that.'"
Liability/support (for the one seeking help) and compensation for the one helping?
If somebody gets some good advice, and later needs to build something on what was already done, won't he need to explain to however is now the selected expert at Qunu what his problem is/was, what the Qunu expert helped him achieve etc.. Basically this guy will have no client file/historical so that whoever comes in later can pick it up from there.
What happens if the next expert dissagrees with what the previous expert said to be done? The one seeking assistance will be confused as hell!
Also what happens when the advice received causes a problem downstream, who's gonna get the end-user out of his misery?
On the other side, experts don't mind helping out on forum boards, and I think that the thing that makes this cooperation possible is that there is no one-to-one relationship, experts won't be necessarily reading the board all the time nor will they need to answer something they don't like/want to answer. Also they choose when they wnat ot respond.
With IM you are dictacted what problem (within a given field I concede), who you answer to and you are compelled to answer (we all know it is impossible to resist talking to somebody on IM, whereas emaied responses can more easily be delayed).
The other problem is that you won't be using this while at work (not if you are honest with your employer), nor will you want to sit at home waiting for somebody to ring you; imagine this is like doing helpdesk support on the WE in your spare time, for zit, nada! ouch.
For all this added stress/difficulty, what does the expert get? Nothing besides gratitude as far as I can tell.
All in all I think that this is a bad idea for anything else than a casual "how do you remove red-eyes in Picasa", "or what do I need to open *.rar files".
Guys please tell me how this would appeal to anybody else than the ones seeking help.
Btw; Qunu sound exactly like "cul nu" in French which means bare-ass. Funny translation I know but makes me think that's what ones seeking help are in for if things go sour.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
I think that this is an opportunity for people to quickly get help for a specific problem, but it REALLY depends upon the quality of the people on the other end of the line. It seems to me like an attempt at replacing the multitude of IRC channels that are out there to support all the open source projects. Another factor is that none of the solutions will be archived, which means that a google won't turn up solutions, which is the first place almost everybody goes when looking for a solution.
I would have thought there's a certain reassurance in knowing there's a certain guaranteed level knowledge that the guys in tech support have, rather than risking a complete stranger who could completely break your [whatever]. Also, I've always used tech support as just a required precursor to them replacing it under warrenty, as generally if the problem is fixable, Google is the only tool you need...
Still, I can see why it would be an advantage, although strictly for software based problems. Hardware problems? I'm not so sure it's a good idea getting someone else to tell you how to fix a peice of delicate machinary/hardware over IM, myself...
Now, that's a stupid statement, even for someone in Marketing.
INDIVIDUALS are wise.
CROWDS are homicidal. Occasionally suicidal. But they are never 'wise.'
It would work well if you pasted you message log into some database so that it could be searched and referenced later. They way, instead if doing the IM thing first, you could search the history. If you didn't find your answer there, then you could chat with someone over IM and find the answer.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
It's bad enough that a Windows can be vulnerable if not properly secure, but what if someone convinces a user of this service to open up their machine (any OS, mind you)?
And before you ask, no, I didn't RTFA. I'll go do that now and see what they say about those concerns ...
I talk about stuff.
I was angling for 'insightful' with a side of 'funny', yeah.
Yes, I know IRC is ancient. The summary acts like communication with experts over the internet is something completely new, so I did, too.
I've used IRC for fun (and pron, I admit it) but never yet had to resort to it for technical information. If wikipedia is shakey about information, IRC is downright scary. I expect the same thing from this new 'tech chat' but with many more know-it-alls to clog up the works. If you want an example, read a few experts-exchange posts and their answers. You'll find a bunch of people that THINK they have some idea what they are talking about, didn't read the questions correctly, and replied with an answer that not only didn't answer the question, but was wrong. And you'll find a couple little gems that ARE right. If you find 2 in the same thread that are right, you've hit pay dirt.
The thought of weeding through these answers in real time makes my head spin. People will be jumping all over each other because they think they are right, quite often obscuring or 'refuting' the right answer.
No thanks.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM