Apple offers unclaimed WWDC tickets to select developers
Apple on Friday began sending out emails asking developers who were not selected in this year's WWDC 2014 ticket lottery if they would like to purchase passes that have gone unclaimed by those originally selected to attend.
According to multiple Twitter posts, developers who missed out on the chance to buy tickets to June's Worldwide Developers Conference are being asked by Apple if they would like to take one of the unclaimed slots.
It is unclear how the invitations are being meted out, though some developers have joked the process is like "round two" of the WWDC lottery.
When Apple sent out initial invitations to buy WWDC 2014 passes earlier in April, the company noted that developers had one week to complete their purchase. At the time, it was noted that reserved slots would be held until 8 p.m. Eastern on Apr. 14, though no mention was made as to what would happen with the unclaimed tickets once that date passed.
At this year's WWDC, Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation iOS 8 alongside a possible sneak peek of OS X 10.10, both of which are under development as seen by AppleInsider's traffic logs.
In addition, events scheduled for the yearly event include more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers, over 100 hands-on labs and other sessions for developers.
WWDC 2014 kicks off on June 2 at San Francisco's Moscone West. The opening "State of the Union" address will be streamed live via the WWDC website, while select videos and technical sessions will be made available online as the week progresses.
According to multiple Twitter posts, developers who missed out on the chance to buy tickets to June's Worldwide Developers Conference are being asked by Apple if they would like to take one of the unclaimed slots.
It is unclear how the invitations are being meted out, though some developers have joked the process is like "round two" of the WWDC lottery.
When Apple sent out initial invitations to buy WWDC 2014 passes earlier in April, the company noted that developers had one week to complete their purchase. At the time, it was noted that reserved slots would be held until 8 p.m. Eastern on Apr. 14, though no mention was made as to what would happen with the unclaimed tickets once that date passed.
At this year's WWDC, Apple is expected to unveil the next-generation iOS 8 alongside a possible sneak peek of OS X 10.10, both of which are under development as seen by AppleInsider's traffic logs.
In addition, events scheduled for the yearly event include more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers, over 100 hands-on labs and other sessions for developers.
WWDC 2014 kicks off on June 2 at San Francisco's Moscone West. The opening "State of the Union" address will be streamed live via the WWDC website, while select videos and technical sessions will be made available online as the week progresses.
Comments
I understand that sometimes things come up all of a sudden and you can't go, but otherwise why would someone register and then not claim their tickets??? Makes no sense to me.
I bet some developers who were originally not getting one that were asked are feeling better now though.
Hmm... This is why I thought this new "fairer" implementation of the ticketing process was misguided. Developers who are serious about going should be served first. Obviously these extra tickets were reserved needlessly by developers who never intended to go or perhaps thought they would be able to sell their tickets.
They should go back to "first come, first served."
It seems to work well for those who are "first"
Here's the issue... there are always more people who want to attend WWDC than there are tickets for.
What's the difference between the first 5,000 people who get tickets... or 5,000 randomly selected lottery people who get tickets?
The end result is the same: 5,000 people get tickets... and some people don't.
Sure, it's still 5k people but the big difference is that there are 5k that didn't just happen to be up and at their computer reading tech news the moment it hit so they could be one of the 5k people to sign up in the first 1 minute and 11 seconds. ONE minute and ELEVEN seconds for 2013's WWDC.
We can say both sets of groups are lucky, but is really an equal chance? Depending on where you are in the world you may never get a shot at attending WWDC because you're sleeping, you're at work or on your way to work, dealing with family, or other issues when Apple decides to go live on a day and time that isn't announced beforehand. That makes this new system considerably more fair.
Gotcha... that makes more sense.
That chance at WWDC means you still need to pay $1,600 to purchase the ticket. That $99 annual fee for a paid developer isn't going to get you in.
I'm not following. You mean like an on-screen slot machine that will tell you if you win?
It effectively isn't first come first served when the registration server is slammed with connection requests in the first minute. It's lottery by DDoS attack, and how fast you can refresh the page.
You mean scalpers would be deterred by first come first served?
But Apple's system makes it impossible for scalpers to sell tickets and therefore pointless for anyone to sign up who can't attend. Of course, some will sign up just to see if they can get a ticket and others may have some event that changes their ability to attend between the time they sing up and need to pay; but that's what the additional draw is for, which was probably done with the initial draw but those outside the ?5k pick were on automatic wait lists. I would have had the system catalog at least 10k names just to be safe.
The old system of premier and select developers where you paid Apple $3,500 or $500 was a better system than what we have now. Only developers who were really committed were part if the program. At $99 almost anyone can be a "developer" and have a chance at WWDC. It may be more inclusive, but such ideas usually fail.
The old system of tiered ticket prices worked when WWDC didn't come close to selling out. This pricing got a few fanbois through the front door since the conference never sold out. Maybe they sat slightly bewildered through a session or two, meandered around, and walked away with some swag bags. Today, WWDC is all about rolling up your sleeves and getting to work.
This is a lottery for the chance of paying $1600 for the actual WWDC ticket if you end up being one of the lucky ones. Apart from the media, there really aren't any looky-loos or wannabees at WWDC - it is a work event, not a tradeshow. There might be a couple of trust fund babies with their own Mac Pros who pretend to be game developers, but for the most part, these are people who pay their bills by writing software for OS X and/or iOS.
Every WWDC attendee today has a chance to participate in sessions, labs, 1-on-1 instruction; it's no longer the exclusive territory of premier developers. That's the real value of the event: getting the chance to solve some of your projects' challenges with the Apple engineers who write the APIs.
If I recall correctly, Google I/O is priced similarly.
Unless you live in the SF Bay Area, you'd need to pay for airline tickets and a hotel room too. If you work for a company, you can just expense all of it back to your employer, MegaSoft Inc. If you're self-employed, you write it all off as business expenses for Dodgy Bros. Software Garage, like you do with toner cartridges, Post-It notes, and lunch with the designer who generates graphics for your website.
I understand that sometimes things come up all of a sudden and you can't go, but otherwise why would someone register and then not claim their tickets??? Makes no sense to me.
One possibility is that some people registered with the hope of going, then told by their employers that they can't go that week or that the company will not reimburse them (WWDC ticket, air travel, hotel, per diem, etc.).
If you're self-employed, you know whether or not you can go, but for others -- especially international developers -- the situation might be iffy because the overall cost of attending is greatly inflated by travel expenses.
I believe that Google I/O is only $900 for regular admission.
Google I/O is only two days. The Apple WWDC is five days.
$1,600 ÷ 5 = $320/day
$900 ÷ 2 = $450/day
But then Google also offers student rate at $300 which I think is still part of the regular lottery, you just to show proof of a transcript. If so, that would bring it to $150/day. I hope Google has something good for developers this year because their tools and documentation are so far behind what Apple offers that it has to be frustrating to be an Android developer.
"first come, first served." Doesn't work well enough in my opinion when all the tickets sell out in around a minute.
Imagine if Apple simply auctioned the tickets. I imagine it would add a few much-needed cents to their coffers.
Apple's quarterly revenues are in the billions of dollars. Auctioning off a handful of WWDC tickets to the top buyer is meaningless.
The WWDC attendance is around six thousand people. Even if Apple auctioned off 500 WWDC tickets with a minimum bid of $10,000, that wouldn't register a dent in their annual revenue, plus it would harbor more ill will than anything else.