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But Apple doesn't give away free stuff at WWDC. It's also much more expensive than Google I/O. It seems most likely that there are just a lot of developers who

But Apple doesn't give away free stuff at WWDC. It's also much more expensive than Google I/O. It seems most likely that there are just a lot of developers who want to go and a limited number of tickets. I haven't been but it seems like it's still a developer focused event to me.

throwaway1979 14y ago
I thought most of the content at WWDC and Google I/O is recorded and made available for free. I understand the frenzy for free devices at Google I/O. But why does this happen for WWDC? I should note .. I managed to get Google I/O tickets once and the party was so much fun (good vibes, robots, gadgets, etc.), I felt that was almost worth the price of admission!
- k-mcgrady 14y ago
  One on one access to Apple engineers is the real benefit of going. All the videos are free online for Apple Developer Program members.
  - bitcartel 14y ago
    Is it really though? Registered developers can already submit code level problems[1], there are official developer forums and bugs can be filed with Radar. Meanwhile at WWDC, it's a developer scrum to get a 15 minute slot with an engineer and walk him/her through code they've never seen before. From my experience, engineers do their best but they have always looked somewhat tired, hungry and distracted. All things given, I'm not sure it's the best environment to solve non-trivial problems, although it is nice to put a face to a name. [1] https://developer.apple.com/support/technical/submit/ https://developer.apple.com/support/technical/submit/
    - mikeash 14y ago
      DTS is really bad. If you have a seriously difficult problem (and not just a preference for spending $50 instead of searching with Google) then it's extremely difficult to get a useful response. You never get to talk directly to an engineer, but rather go through a DTS intermediary. The whole process is slow and painful and almost always results in something along the lines of, "You shouldn't do that," or, "That's not possible, file a bug." I've always had an easy time getting access to engineers. I hear a lot of people don't, so it must vary a lot depending on what topics you're after.
      - kybernetyk 14y ago
        > DTS is really bad. Maybe I was lucky. ~One year ago I had a problem with one of the Apple frameworks in conjunction with sandboxing and filled a DTS request. It took some time but the guy that I had contact with was very competent - so I guess it was an actual engineer. That or your average DTS intermediary will talk about disassembly listings with you. Yes, the process was pretty slow but it was not painful IMHO. Coincidentally I had asked in #macdev on freenode first and was greeted with some snarky remarks how I must be wrong as the reviewers know what they do ...
        mikeash 14y ago
        It does occasionally go well, but I would say that, yes, you were lucky. I've tried DTS many times and never had it be very useful, not even when it was clearly a bug on Apple's side that they would want to fix soon.
- mikestew 14y ago
  At WWDC, the souvenir jacket is really cool. :) Most of the worth is not in the sessions, IMO, especially since post-session Q&A was done away with. Now you might as well just watch the video. But there's hallway networking, and access to Apple engineers in the labs (I'll bet the iCloud/Core Data folk will be particularly "popular" this year). Is it worth the nearly $3000 I'll have to pull out of my own pocket? This year I decided it wasn't. YMMV, and for over 5000 people it obviously does.
  - podperson 14y ago
    Sorry to hear the Q&A is gone. Have the feedback sessions gone too?
  - podperson 14y ago
    Sorry to hear the Q&A is gone. Have the feedback sessions gone too?
  - kunai 14y ago
    Sold out before I got a chance. I tried getting tickets three minutes past the hour. I don't know how the hell Apple's servers handle the demand.

throwaway1979 14y ago

I thought most of the content at WWDC and Google I/O is recorded and made available for free. I understand the frenzy for free devices at Google I/O. But why does this happen for WWDC? I should note .. I managed to get Google I/O tickets once and the party was so much fun (good vibes, robots, gadgets, etc.), I felt that was almost worth the price of admission!

k-mcgrady 14y ago
One on one access to Apple engineers is the real benefit of going. All the videos are free online for Apple Developer Program members.
- bitcartel 14y ago
  Is it really though? Registered developers can already submit code level problems[1], there are official developer forums and bugs can be filed with Radar. Meanwhile at WWDC, it's a developer scrum to get a 15 minute slot with an engineer and walk him/her through code they've never seen before. From my experience, engineers do their best but they have always looked somewhat tired, hungry and distracted. All things given, I'm not sure it's the best environment to solve non-trivial problems, although it is nice to put a face to a name. [1] https://developer.apple.com/support/technical/submit/ https://developer.apple.com/support/technical/submit/
  - mikeash 14y ago
    DTS is really bad. If you have a seriously difficult problem (and not just a preference for spending $50 instead of searching with Google) then it's extremely difficult to get a useful response. You never get to talk directly to an engineer, but rather go through a DTS intermediary. The whole process is slow and painful and almost always results in something along the lines of, "You shouldn't do that," or, "That's not possible, file a bug." I've always had an easy time getting access to engineers. I hear a lot of people don't, so it must vary a lot depending on what topics you're after.
    - kybernetyk 14y ago
      > DTS is really bad. Maybe I was lucky. ~One year ago I had a problem with one of the Apple frameworks in conjunction with sandboxing and filled a DTS request. It took some time but the guy that I had contact with was very competent - so I guess it was an actual engineer. That or your average DTS intermediary will talk about disassembly listings with you. Yes, the process was pretty slow but it was not painful IMHO. Coincidentally I had asked in #macdev on freenode first and was greeted with some snarky remarks how I must be wrong as the reviewers know what they do ...
      - mikeash 14y ago
        It does occasionally go well, but I would say that, yes, you were lucky. I've tried DTS many times and never had it be very useful, not even when it was clearly a bug on Apple's side that they would want to fix soon.
mikestew 14y ago
At WWDC, the souvenir jacket is really cool. :) Most of the worth is not in the sessions, IMO, especially since post-session Q&A was done away with. Now you might as well just watch the video. But there's hallway networking, and access to Apple engineers in the labs (I'll bet the iCloud/Core Data folk will be particularly "popular" this year). Is it worth the nearly $3000 I'll have to pull out of my own pocket? This year I decided it wasn't. YMMV, and for over 5000 people it obviously does.
- podperson 14y ago
  Sorry to hear the Q&A is gone. Have the feedback sessions gone too?
- podperson 14y ago
  Sorry to hear the Q&A is gone. Have the feedback sessions gone too?
- kunai 14y ago
  Sold out before I got a chance. I tried getting tickets three minutes past the hour. I don't know how the hell Apple's servers handle the demand.