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I go to academic conferences, not industry ones, but I find the big annual meetings to be exhausting, unproductive, and incredibly wasteful. I for one will be h

I go to academic conferences, not industry ones, but I find the big annual meetings to be exhausting, unproductive, and incredibly wasteful. I for one will be happy to see them go, if that's what ends up happening.

RandallBrown 6y ago
WWDC is exhausting and incredibly wasteful, but it's very productive. Especially if you make use of the labs where they'll actually help you with your code. I've also found that I learned a LOT more about new operating system features when I was attending the conference vs picking and choosing the videos to watch from home. It's also a great way to network and meet up with old friends. I've had a lot of fun the couple times I went to WWDC. I would be sad to see it go, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.
- coldcode 6y ago
  Yeah the labs were the only benefit any more, otherwise its lots of standing in lines. I went to the "first" WWDC (not called it yet) back in 1986; no mobile devices, so everyone was forced to, gasp, talk with each other. It was tons of fun to hear what other devs were doing, you could learn while standing in line! Plus Apple served us real food, and took us out on trips (in 1986 the whole conference went out on a boat in SF harbor). Last time I went (right before the switch back to San Jose) everyone was looking at their phones or MacBooks and working. It was much harder to engage people in talking.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  I agree, but it's a lottery which only fairly wealthy developers can enter. Personally (even if they restore the previous format) I'd prefer to see it oriented towards the online (rest of the planet) world first and the lottery winners second. (And they have made the experience a lot nicer over the past few years!)
- vaxman 6y ago
  ..especially if you make use of the recruiters. There, fixed it for you. Seriously though, unless you are a game dev or make your own models, note that Apple has a China problem —maybe go DART and Flutter (on VSC) while it gets adjudicated.

RandallBrown 6y ago

WWDC is exhausting and incredibly wasteful, but it's very productive. Especially if you make use of the labs where they'll actually help you with your code. I've also found that I learned a LOT more about new operating system features when I was attending the conference vs picking and choosing the videos to watch from home. It's also a great way to network and meet up with old friends. I've had a lot of fun the couple times I went to WWDC. I would be sad to see it go, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.

coldcode 6y ago
Yeah the labs were the only benefit any more, otherwise its lots of standing in lines. I went to the "first" WWDC (not called it yet) back in 1986; no mobile devices, so everyone was forced to, gasp, talk with each other. It was tons of fun to hear what other devs were doing, you could learn while standing in line! Plus Apple served us real food, and took us out on trips (in 1986 the whole conference went out on a boat in SF harbor). Last time I went (right before the switch back to San Jose) everyone was looking at their phones or MacBooks and working. It was much harder to engage people in talking.
ogre_codes 6y ago
I agree, but it's a lottery which only fairly wealthy developers can enter. Personally (even if they restore the previous format) I'd prefer to see it oriented towards the online (rest of the planet) world first and the lottery winners second. (And they have made the experience a lot nicer over the past few years!)
vaxman 6y ago
..especially if you make use of the recruiters. There, fixed it for you. Seriously though, unless you are a game dev or make your own models, note that Apple has a China problem —maybe go DART and Flutter (on VSC) while it gets adjudicated.