Wasted $40 on a Udemy course that was just reading documentation

I bought this Python course that had like 4.5 stars and over 10k reviews. Turns out the guy literally just read the official Python docs out loud for 12 hours. No projects, no real examples, just reading. I could have learned more from a free YouTube playlist. Has anyone else fallen for a highly rated course that was basically just a documentation recap?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyhall11d ago

Oh man, that's rough... I bought a "complete JavaScript bootcamp" once that turned out to be a guy reading the MDN web docs word for word for like 8 hours. My brain felt like it was melting. Definitely learned more from a free 30 minute YouTube video that actually showed me building something. At least your $40 bought you a really expensive nap... I fell asleep twice during mine.

luna26111d ago

And it's wild how this keeps happening beyond just courses, right @abbyhall? I swear half the "premium" content out there is just someone reading a manual they didn't write while the free stuff is people who actually use it every day showing you their shortcuts. It's like buying a fancy cookbook versus just watching a grandma on YouTube make her famous sauce, you know? The paid stuff feels safe and official, but the real learning often comes from someone who's just really good at explaining one specific thing for free. Makes you wonder why we still fall for the expensive packaging when the good stuff is usually hidden in plain sight.

fionamurphy11d ago

Heard my buddy tell me the exact same thing about a web dev course he bought. He was so hyped because it promised to teach you how to build a full portfolio site, but it was just some guy reading the React docs for 10 hours straight. My friend fell asleep on his keyboard about 4 hours in and woke up with a face full of errors because he had typed nothing but gibberish. He ended up following a random 1 hour free YouTube tutorial that actually showed him building a real project step by step. Still bitter about that $50. The guy never even touched a code editor once during the whole course, just read straight from a PDF on screen.