It isn't just about one gadget, at past IOs attendees have walked away with like 4+ gadgets depending upon the talks they registered for, with the resale value

It isn't just about one gadget, at past IOs attendees have walked away with like 4+ gadgets depending upon the talks they registered for, with the resale value of those gadgets far exceeding the ticket price to get in, especially when the gadgets are new on the market and hard to find. For the organizers, giving away gadgets makes some sense in that if you're doing a deep dive into how to code for XYZ, it is nice if you know everyone in attendance has a default configured XYZ. I've tried to register for IO in the past and never made it past the always-overloaded servers... this year, I didn't even bother... I'm sorry for those who tried and didn't make it but glad I didn't waste my time. Anyway, if the conference is still selling out in 20 minutes, I guess this means they can bump the price by another $500 or so next year and see how it goes.