Re: OT: WWDC
Re: OT: WWDC
- Subject: Re: OT: WWDC
- From: publiclook <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 00:40:52 -0400
On Friday, May 16, 2003, at 05:52 PM, Douglas Davidson wrote:
On Friday, May 16, 2003, at 1:42 PM, Stiphane Sudre wrote:
The issue when you have attended one or more WWDCs is that some
sessions are just repeating what had been said the previous year.
If an interested party may be permitted a comment (and a plug), I
would like to say that one important function of WWDC is to
disseminate information about new APIs, for which formal documentation
may be somewhat scant. This year there is much that is new, e.g.
sessions 404 et seq. In my own session, 421, I can say that although
the title and description sound rather like last year's, the talk will
be almost entirely new--both because I will be discussing new APIs,
and because I will be covering different aspects of the Cocoa text
system.
Apple puts us developers in an awkward dilemma. Apple does not provide
information about technology directions or long term strategy and yet
Apple plans to present new APIs at WWDC. How are we to know if any
_new_ API's that we will care about will be presented before we decide
to attend ? For all we can tell, this year's sessions are just a repeat
of last year's except now you tell us yours isn't. Never-mind that the
last five years have had mostly the same content and/or sessions for
technology that was dropped before the next conference.
On the flip side, Apple's past statements of direction have been
unbelievably deceptive and damaging to developers. Over four years:
Cross platform yellow box will be free. It will still be free, It will
cost a little money, we don't know of any business case for cross
platform. I know developers who would rather not have been told
Apple's direction. Those developers could have saved a lot of money
chasing Apple and waiting for Apple to screw them. It is better that
Apple doesn't tell us, but then why attend the conference ?
If there is some new Apple technology that you would like to learn
about, or even one that is simply new to you, then WWDC is an
opportunity to hear it explicated by its developers. Different people
have different styles of learning, however, and it is always open to
you to use written materials, the WWDC DVDs, mailing lists, etc.
instead.
Well said.
Ultimately, if Apple wants us to use an API, Apple must document it.
Many developers are uncomfortable using APIs that have no documentation
except WWDC session notes.
I have attended several WWCDs and I don't regret it. If nothing else,
trying a variety of restaurants in San Jose (now San Francisco) is fun.
The evening events like the Cocoa/Openstep BOF are indeed fun but hard
to justify as the reason for attending the conference.
Here is how I see it:
There are several common _business_ reasons to attend a conference:
a) Find out about products you may want to buy or offerings from
competitors. (WWDC has a negligible vendor presence and Apple's product
list is readily available)
b) Exchange really cutting edge information and/or present technical
papers. (Apple has a monopoly on presentations at WWDC and they seldom
say anything really cutting edge. Apple likes trade secrets and
software patents.)
c) Get information before your competitors. (It is doubtful that WWDC
will present anything that won't be in some other forum within a few
weeks. How much lead do you need to justify the conference ?)
d) Get business information from the horses mouth instead of from
reporters. (Frankly, the reporters are more reputable in this area.
Apple routinely misleads its developers about business information.)
e) Make contacts and find a new job. (Some employers don't let their
employees attend for that reason. The Apple Market is generally not
hiring anyway.)
f) Get one on one time with experts. (There is no guarantee at WWDC and
it is cheaper to buy technical incidents.)
g) Get training. (WWDC is not a training conference and I am sure a
week at the Big Nerd Ranch would have better results.)
h) Allow yourself to be marketed to. (Apple will find a way to market
to you through a venue that doesn't cost you money. It is in their
interest.)
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