WWDC 2010 Announced
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 2:09PM 
Apple have finally decided to announce the dates for WWDC and have left it pretty late with just over five weeks notice - streuth!
The dates have been announced as 7th - 11th June 2010 at Moscone West, San Francisco.
Much rumblings of disquiet on Twitter as developers are left with the last minute decision to attend. Looks like Apple have elevated the status of iPhone/iPad development over the Mac with @pilky on Twitter counting up the split of sessions (not counting the web sessions) as:
It also looks like the Apple Design Awards are just for the mobile platforms this year - surely some mistake?
Tickets for WWDC are extremely expensive this year, with UK developers having to stump up £1099 plus VAT for a single ticket. Add in the extra expense of last minute flights, accommodation and living expenses, it looks like Apple may suffer a backlash of WWDC being poorly attended by International developers.
I daresay that WWDC will be a sell out as usual (and by that I mean they'll sell all the tickets!) but it's a shame that Apple held onto the dates for so long. Surely this must have been planned for quite some time.
Anyhow, WWDC is an event I've never been to before as I'd always considered it to be inappropriate for me as I'm not a developer. Yes, I have a good appreciation of Apple technologies obviously, but some of the sessions look way over my head.
That all changed when I went to the NSConference in 2009, a much smaller event held in the UK. I sat in on a number of technical sessions that actually were fascinating, even if I couldn't put them to good use but more importantly, met up with a load of really cool Mac developers, including some customers of mine. I found it to be a hugely valuable experience.
So I'd sort of played with the idea of going to WWDC one day, for a similar experience - learn something and meet up with developers whose products will end up being featured on ScreenCastsOnline. I've had several conversations with people who all recommended that WWDC was really a good place to go, both on a personal and professional level. One technical aspect I am interested in is some of the web technologies in relation to video on the web. Obviously, I have a vested interest in that!
So despite the expense, I've just made a rash decision to book a ticket and now I'm confirmed for WWDC 2010. I managed to get a combined flight and hotel deal at a reasonable cost but it's still a significant expense. As I needed to pay up front to get a good deal on my flight and hotel (with this short notice, I suppose that's pretty much unavoidable anyway) I'm going to postpone the planned upgrade to my MacBook Pro for the time being. Otherwise, it would be a pretty hefty month!
It's a shame there won't be more International attendees based on some of the early feedback, but I'll try my best to fly the flag.
