5 ms·

Would love to go again, but that $1600 is just too much to pay these days given it's all streamed live.

dijit 11y ago
you're not going for the keynote. you go to get hands on with the new technology, speak to the people developing solutions and meet other apple technology developers. my friend went last year when they introduced Swift, the knowledge he gained from talking to the language developers is unparalleled.
- Someone1234 11y ago
  All of which can be useful, but also had for much less than $1600. Heck you can get most of that for free in your own backyard if any hacker-event or similar is held there (most are free/sponsored). I think events such as this do have an innate value, and have no issue paying for them. But $1600 is clearly a ton of money that could be better used elsewhere. Having a 10 minute conversation with a language designer is not worth $1600 in my book (and you can often find interviews with them on YT or articles, or get white papers).
  - chatmasta 11y ago
    It may not be worth it if you're bankrolling the $1600 yourself, but if your employer pays the fee it's essentially free and part of "career development."
  - clarky07 11y ago
    I can't imagine talking to the developer of swift is worth 1600, but I expect the entirety of the networking options with other devs, journalists, and people from Apple is worth it. Having relationships with people inside apple is going to make it easier to get noticed, and if you do get some press or feature because of it then it's easily worthwhile. I'm not in any way saying everyone who goes will get featured. Obviously not true. Just suggesting that developing relationships is the reason to go, and it could possibly be worth it. You never know what doors will be opened.
- supercoder 11y ago
  I wasn't referring to the keynote, the sessions are live streamed. I know people put a lot of emphasis on contact with the Apple developers, but I think in the end it's made out to be more significant than it really is. I've gone and shown them a bunch of stuff that wasn't working, and they were just like, 'good catch, file a bug report!'. But really how much insight into Swift could he have gained from a ~15 minute conversation ?
- untog 11y ago
  Sure. but I'd wager the average developer wouldn't benefit to talking to the creators of Swift to the tune of $1600. If you have some very specific requirements and questions, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the video streams will likely suffice.
  - astrodust 11y ago
    The "average developer" probably shouldn't go. If you're a dev shop, send your best, send the ones that stand to gain the most. Anyone who's curious can always watch the material afterwards. They gain little benefit from interfacing with engineers if they don't have an application they're working on.
  - ghshephard 11y ago
    I guess it depends on your ability to manage/focus. The same Cisco CCNP training course (almost to the word) that you can get online from Udemy for $50, costs $6200 in an 11 day onsite format with Unitek. There's a reason why Unitek continues to sell out their classes - and it's not because companies (which is who mostly pays for these classes) don't know about the video courses, but because they realized spending $6200 and having their employee 100% focused for 11 days on learning about network engineering has real value. Presumably, the same thing applies to going to WWDC - you go there for the 100% focus, and you also go to (re)establish relationship, and for the social events.
- higherpurpose 11y ago
  Is it? Weren't there like a few books on Swift coming out just a couple months later?
  - mikeash 11y ago
    There's nothing particularly special about books. They're written by ordinary people with no special access or knowledge. Any Swift book you picked up a couple of months after WWDC (or, indeed, today) contains nothing you couldn't get yourself by reading the official documentation and working with Xcode.
- rickyc091 11y ago
  Agreed. What you're paying for is actually the 1 on 1 time with Apple engineers who will sit down and help debug your app, optimize for performance, etc. It's actually roughly $320 a day, which is fairly reasonable if you think about it.
  - nicky0 11y ago
    I see this quite often and I always think "What are the chances that I happen to be working on a difficult bug in my app exactly at the time I go to WWDC?". Do people really have that many tricky debugging issues that they have two or three ready to ask an Apple engineer when the time comes?
    - supercoder 11y ago
      It's surprising any apps get made really.
    - smackfu 11y ago
      Also, your bug is going to be with the stuff they announced at the last WWDC, and there's a fair chance that they just came out with a bunch of new stuff that obsoletes it.
Zikes 11y ago
$1600 for a ticket or $2000 for an Apple device capable of watching their proprietary stream format.
- astrodust 11y ago
  It's usually just H.264 and there are open-source implementations of the codec: http://www.openh264.org/ http://www.openh264.org/
- mcphage 11y ago
  Does the $2000 device still operate as a computer after the conference?
- DannoHung 11y ago
  Don't they put it on the Apple TV?
- coldtea 11y ago
  A dime for your thought process...
gdubs 11y ago
The biggest advantage I've found to attending is the total focus that being there brings. In other years I've watched the videos, but it's just not the same as going. When you're there, you're committed and (at least for me) it's about soaking in a semester's worth of information in a week. Plus, you make stronger connections with developers you've maybe only talked with online. And the party is fun.

dijit 11y ago

you're not going for the keynote. you go to get hands on with the new technology, speak to the people developing solutions and meet other apple technology developers. my friend went last year when they introduced Swift, the knowledge he gained from talking to the language developers is unparalleled.

Someone1234 11y ago
All of which can be useful, but also had for much less than $1600. Heck you can get most of that for free in your own backyard if any hacker-event or similar is held there (most are free/sponsored). I think events such as this do have an innate value, and have no issue paying for them. But $1600 is clearly a ton of money that could be better used elsewhere. Having a 10 minute conversation with a language designer is not worth $1600 in my book (and you can often find interviews with them on YT or articles, or get white papers).
- chatmasta 11y ago
  It may not be worth it if you're bankrolling the $1600 yourself, but if your employer pays the fee it's essentially free and part of "career development."
- clarky07 11y ago
  I can't imagine talking to the developer of swift is worth 1600, but I expect the entirety of the networking options with other devs, journalists, and people from Apple is worth it. Having relationships with people inside apple is going to make it easier to get noticed, and if you do get some press or feature because of it then it's easily worthwhile. I'm not in any way saying everyone who goes will get featured. Obviously not true. Just suggesting that developing relationships is the reason to go, and it could possibly be worth it. You never know what doors will be opened.
supercoder 11y ago
I wasn't referring to the keynote, the sessions are live streamed. I know people put a lot of emphasis on contact with the Apple developers, but I think in the end it's made out to be more significant than it really is. I've gone and shown them a bunch of stuff that wasn't working, and they were just like, 'good catch, file a bug report!'. But really how much insight into Swift could he have gained from a ~15 minute conversation ?
untog 11y ago
Sure. but I'd wager the average developer wouldn't benefit to talking to the creators of Swift to the tune of $1600. If you have some very specific requirements and questions, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the video streams will likely suffice.
- astrodust 11y ago
  The "average developer" probably shouldn't go. If you're a dev shop, send your best, send the ones that stand to gain the most. Anyone who's curious can always watch the material afterwards. They gain little benefit from interfacing with engineers if they don't have an application they're working on.
- ghshephard 11y ago
  I guess it depends on your ability to manage/focus. The same Cisco CCNP training course (almost to the word) that you can get online from Udemy for $50, costs $6200 in an 11 day onsite format with Unitek. There's a reason why Unitek continues to sell out their classes - and it's not because companies (which is who mostly pays for these classes) don't know about the video courses, but because they realized spending $6200 and having their employee 100% focused for 11 days on learning about network engineering has real value. Presumably, the same thing applies to going to WWDC - you go there for the 100% focus, and you also go to (re)establish relationship, and for the social events.
higherpurpose 11y ago
Is it? Weren't there like a few books on Swift coming out just a couple months later?
- mikeash 11y ago
  There's nothing particularly special about books. They're written by ordinary people with no special access or knowledge. Any Swift book you picked up a couple of months after WWDC (or, indeed, today) contains nothing you couldn't get yourself by reading the official documentation and working with Xcode.
rickyc091 11y ago
Agreed. What you're paying for is actually the 1 on 1 time with Apple engineers who will sit down and help debug your app, optimize for performance, etc. It's actually roughly $320 a day, which is fairly reasonable if you think about it.
- nicky0 11y ago
  I see this quite often and I always think "What are the chances that I happen to be working on a difficult bug in my app exactly at the time I go to WWDC?". Do people really have that many tricky debugging issues that they have two or three ready to ask an Apple engineer when the time comes?
  - supercoder 11y ago
    It's surprising any apps get made really.
  - smackfu 11y ago
    Also, your bug is going to be with the stuff they announced at the last WWDC, and there's a fair chance that they just came out with a bunch of new stuff that obsoletes it.

Zikes 11y ago

$1600 for a ticket or $2000 for an Apple device capable of watching their proprietary stream format.

astrodust 11y ago
It's usually just H.264 and there are open-source implementations of the codec: http://www.openh264.org/ http://www.openh264.org/
mcphage 11y ago
Does the $2000 device still operate as a computer after the conference?
DannoHung 11y ago
Don't they put it on the Apple TV?
coldtea 11y ago
A dime for your thought process...

gdubs 11y ago

The biggest advantage I've found to attending is the total focus that being there brings. In other years I've watched the videos, but it's just not the same as going. When you're there, you're committed and (at least for me) it's about soaking in a semester's worth of information in a week. Plus, you make stronger connections with developers you've maybe only talked with online. And the party is fun.