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Apple Announces WWDC 2017, To Be Held in San Jose On June 5-9 (daringfireball.net)

Posted by msmash on from the developer-conference dept.

Apple said today it will kick off this year's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5. Much like every year, the developer conference is the place where we can expect to see what's coming to iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS later this year. This year, the event is being held in a different venue: the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, the original home of WWDC. John Gruber, writing for DaringFireball: First, announcing early really helps people who have to travel long distances to attend, particularly those from outside the U.S. The San Jose Convention Center is the original home of WWDC -- that's where it was held from 1988 through 2002. (WWDC 2002 was the year Steve Jobs held a funeral for Mac OS 9 during the keynote.) San Jose is way closer to Apple headquarters. San Francisco is about an hour drive from 1 Infinite Loop. The San Jose Convention Center is only five minutes away from Apple's new campus. Schiller emphasized to me that this is a big deal: more Apple employees from more teams will be present, simply because they won't have to devote an entire day to being there. (This could be a particular boon to WWDC's developer labs, where attendees can get precious face time with Apple's engineers.)

31 of 63 comments (clear)

  1. San Francisco getting too expensive... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    According to the rumors on the comic con circuit, San Francisco is getting too expensive to host smaller conventions. Pricing at Moscone is tied to how many hotel rooms that the city can collect taxes on. If your convention can't fill up the hotel rooms, expect to pay than it would cost somewhere else like San Jose or Santa Clara.

    1. Re:San Francisco getting too expensive... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Too bad there is not an "edit" button, old chap.

      This is Slashdot, not Wikipedia. An edit button would ruin the experience for wannabe nitpickers and grammar Nazis.

    2. Re:San Francisco getting too expensive... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Also, Moscone is undergoing renovation that will close Moscone North and South from April to August this year.

      IIRC, WWDC was always held in Moscone West. The MacWorld Expos were always held in North/South Moscone.

  2. Re:aw shit son by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Traditional marketing considers a 2% response rate as a good metric.

  3. more employees = less engagement? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> more Apple employees from more teams will be present, simply because they won't have to devote an entire day to being there

    You'll have MORE employees, buzzing through so they can tell their managers they were there, but probably LESS engagement, because, you know, they gotta get back to the office and fill out those TPS reports so they can leave at a decent hour.

    1. Re:more employees = less engagement? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Many of those employees will be shuttled from the new campus opening this year.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvkh5udzKds

  4. Re:Will There Be More Room? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Last year Steve Wozinak (Apple) and Stan Lee (Marvel Comics) turned Big Wow Comic Con (~5,000 people) into Silicon Valley Comic Con (~60,000 people). They obviously oversold the event and it was epic disaster because they only had the convention center. I saw the crowds, wrote off $200 in passes and autograph tickets, and went home. The organizers gave me a VIP pass for 2017 SVCC in April. This year they will have the convention center and surrounding venues booked to accommodate the size. WWDC should fit the San Jose convention center nicely.

  5. SJCC is not "5 minutes away" by saccade.com · · Score: 1

    "The San Jose Convention Center is only five minutes away from Apple's new campus" Maybe by rocket-powered drone? At 2am on a clear freeway, you might be able to make it in 15 minutes. Otherwise, plan on a half hour.

    1. Re:SJCC is not "5 minutes away" by tsqr · · Score: 1

      It's just under 10 miles. Maybe 5 minutes as measured by an Apple Watch with an exhausted battery. In real time, you'd probably spend twice that long cruising the convention center parking garage looking for a space.

    2. Re:SJCC is not "5 minutes away" by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 1

      I remember WWDCs in San Jose. It certainly wasn't a 5 minute drive. But it was certainly closer than the drive from San Francisco, so that's a plus.

  6. so, here is something interesting.. by gamekeeper · · Score: 1

    apple announces wwdc2017, but yet looking at the articles I notice the article about facebook it over shadows.. 16 to 13 comments, and the gap gets bigger.. Ya, the Shine from the apple name is getting tarnished quik.. Like their server platform, it looks nice, but does it function? Does it bring the same features at a similar pricepoint to its brethren? NO Could it have? Yes if Apple was not involved. I think the "X-serve" platform lasted 6 months..

    1. Re:so, here is something interesting.. by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      apple announces wwdc2017, but yet looking at the articles I notice the article about facebook it over shadows.. 16 to 13 comments, and the gap gets bigger.. Ya, the Shine from the apple name is getting tarnished quik.. Like their server platform, it looks nice, but does it function? Does it bring the same features at a similar pricepoint to its brethren? NO Could it have? Yes if Apple was not involved. I think the "X-serve" platform lasted 6 months..

      Keep thinking, Hater.

      XServes were sold from 2002 to January 2011.

      That sounds more like 8 years to me...

      Now GTFO.

    2. Re:so, here is something interesting.. by gamekeeper · · Score: 1

      So Tim, Based on how the the point system has jumped up all of a sudden, I have to ask, can you hide the fact that you may be moderator any better?? Promoting you own agenda.. Dude relax, no need to immaturely flex your muscle. What ever the last guy pointed out is pretty fact on.. How you blew out my intentions into a hardware discussion is far beyond me, when the subject matter was about how the WWDC is moving to SJ versus SF due to budgetary issues. Being that certain things are legal in California, perhaps you may want to take advantage of that. What that on the table, I think it's time for me to GTFO, I've go something better to focus my attention on.

    3. Re:so, here is something interesting.. by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      So Tim, Based on how the the point system has jumped up all of a sudden, I have to ask, can you hide the fact that you may be moderator any better?? Promoting you own agenda.. Dude relax, no need to immaturely flex your muscle. What ever the last guy pointed out is pretty fact on.. How you blew out my intentions into a hardware discussion is far beyond me, when the subject matter was about how the WWDC is moving to SJ versus SF due to budgetary issues. Being that certain things are legal in California, perhaps you may want to take advantage of that. What that on the table, I think it's time for me to GTFO, I've go something better to focus my attention on.

      Could you express that in English, please?

  7. Re: Will There Be More Room? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    They distribute tickets to stand in line for autographs now?

    That depends on the event. Bigger events won't allow you to stand in line unless you have a ticket for an autograph. Smaller events will allow you to walk up to the person signing autographs to meet and greet for free. I did a write up on my blog for the Alien Con convention I went to last year, where I got the.autographs of Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica/Longmire), Jewel Staite (Firefly), and Marta Kristin (Lost In Space)

    https://blog.cdreimer.com/2016/11/20/escaping-from-the-alien-con-2016/

  8. Who Would Dare Come? by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    did they really mean that?

  9. outside the US by fermion · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Are people actually going to risk being detained at the airport for hours or being put in jail just to attend an Apple Conference. This is not snark. I am really interested if these kind of things held in the US are still viable. I expect to see more North American international conferences held in Canada. I know that most people attending the conference will be light skinned, but still...

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    1. Re:outside the US by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Are people actually going to risk being detained at the airport for hours or being put in jail just to attend an Apple Conference. This is not snark. I am really interested if these kind of things held in the US are still viable. I expect to see more North American international conferences held in Canada. I know that most people attending the conference will be light skinned, but still...

      Here's the problem. These big events are planned out at least a year or more in advance. You can't just go up and book a convention center with a month's notice. And something like E3, CES, WWDC, Android I/O are generally booked a year or more in advance. So at least for 2017, you're screwed, and some bigger conventions like E3 and CES are screwed in 2018 as well,

      Now the convention holders are probably planning for alternate sites and even then it takes time to find and book. Apple and others may very well have to consider booking outside the US, or hold multiple events. (WWDC is very popular and tickets are by lottery system. Even then, all the lottery spots are taken within the hour).

      Considering the current political climate, if I was holding a convention, I would consider a non-US location. I might keep the US one on because I'm still on the hook for it (but try to minimize things - maybe instead of using the whole space, use only half) while looking for an alternate location.

      And yes, Canada would love the billions of dollars of economic spinoff something like E3 and CES generates (hotel rooms, meals, transportation, you can probably see over a billion dollars of economic activity generated).

    2. Re:outside the US by slew · · Score: 1

      Are people actually going to risk being detained at the airport for hours or being put in jail just to attend an Apple Conference. This is not snark. I am really interested if these kind of things held in the US are still viable. I expect to see more North American international conferences held in Canada. I know that most people attending the conference will be light skinned, but still...

      Given the number of H1b's in the US that come from countries that would need visa's to enter Canada (e.g., India, China) for a conference, I expect that very few North American international tech conference that expect a large number of US attendees will attempt to hold them in Canada...

  10. Re:Will There Be More Room? by peterd11 · · Score: 2

    Phil Schiller said there will be space for about the same number of attendees: "I asked whether the move to San Jose changed the number of people who’d be able to attend. Schiller said it did not — attendance will be about the same." from http://daringfireball.net/2017...

  11. While in beautiful downtown San Jose... by Not-a-Neg · · Score: 1

    ...be sure to see the infamous "Pile of Statues" AKA "Dookie in the Park": http://www.urbandictionary.com...

    I would try to recommend a bar or club but the city council tends to shut them all down, or their landlords jack the rent and price them out. On the other hand, drive 15 minutes over to Campbell, CA and go to "The Garret" for the best damn pizza on Earth: http://thegarretrestaurant.com...

    Oh, and Winchester Mystery House is in San Jose in case you weren't aware: http://www.winchestermysteryho...

    --
    -==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
    1. Re:While in beautiful downtown San Jose... by Not-a-Neg · · Score: 1

      *Statue (singular)

      Damn lack of an edit button.

      --
      -==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
    2. Re:While in beautiful downtown San Jose... by Steve-Oh · · Score: 1

      Go a bit further south of Campbell and you are in Los Gatos. That is Woz's back yard. Would not be surprised if Woz throws some sort of party at his place for select developers. It may even be a "surprise bus" where Apple takes a short list, tells them to get in the bus and they'll find their way at Woz's house up in the Los Gatos hills.

  12. I went to WWDC once. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The best part about it was meeting other developers and partying with them afterwards.

    Everything else was kinda meh. The keynote was sorta awkward and filled with self-congratulatory cruft. Without Steve Jobs, there was no magic to the presentation and it was all kinda lame. I got to see some new hardware before it was released, but the demonstrations were so tightly controlled that they might as well have been showing us a device playing back some pre-recorded movie, and most of the questions that were asked during the following Q&A session couldn't be answered or were sidestepped with marketing bullshit.

    The so-called developer labs were hit and miss. Some guys seemed to genuinely care and were willing to discuss the technical side of the implementations behind a particular API, others took a sort of "we know best, trust us, our code is perfect, there's no other way this could possibly be done" stance and refused to discuss any of the inner workings of their particular area of responsibility. In the end, apart from a few notable interactions, I didn't really gleam much from them that I couldn't get from the API docs and 30 minutes on Google.

    To be honest, I found it to be a bit of a waste of time and money. The best part of the whole trip was meeting other independent developers and partying with them afterwards. I later hooked up with a few and did some projects with them which was nice, and in retrospect, I suppose the opportunity to meet them was worth the price of admission. However, it's not like that sort of thing needs to be restricted to WWDC. I kinda feel like someone else should be putting on a less hyped up developer convention with a stronger focus on developers helping other developers. The core of WWDC felt like it existed solely to praise Apple and to ooh and aww at whatever they brought to show off, even though almost everything I saw was a huge letdown. I haven't gone back because of this- it was just too... dare I say religious?... for me. I've stayed in touch with most of the people I met there and they all agreed WWDC has been going downhill, and most of them didn't even bother signing up for a chance to get tickets last year, nor have they this year.

    So I suppose if you're a hardcore Apple fanatic and developer, this is basically your yearly mecca. If you want to get fucking wasted and party with other developers, you can do that too, but it's not like WWDC is required to do that. Otherwise, it's all rather hyped up and I don't think it's worth the time and effort to attend. I'm told things were very, very different when Jobs was around (it was still hyped up to hell, but with good reason), but that's no longer the case. I really regret not having gone when he was alive- I always said I'd go to WWDC one year, and the year I did TC was already well in power, and it was kinda disappointing.

  13. Re:Do you know the way by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    I think you just follow the black trashcan markers, yes?

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  14. They will present the removal by iampiti · · Score: 1

    of 5 things Apple claims are obsolete but everybody still uses. Also, they will show the dongles to get those features back.

  15. Re:Do you know the way by rsborg · · Score: 1

    I think you just follow the black trashcan markers, yes?

    Don't forget the wonderful yellow streetlights. Very warm.

    --
    Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  16. Re:Do you know the way by fyngyrz · · Score: 1

    I'm told the streetlight RFI interferes with audio, causes hum. I can't hear it, though.

    No headphone jack, y'see.

    Courage!

    --
    I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
  17. Re:Hotel rooms by PCM2 · · Score: 1

    That's not it. San Jose isn't much less expensive than SF. The construction to expand Moscone Center means there's no room for events. Read Question #1 in the FAQ.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  18. so, here is something interesting.. a thank you by gamekeeper · · Score: 1

    Hey Tim, upon reflection, I do owe you some thanks for correcting some of the facts I placed out there.. OK X-serves did remain in production for over a year, but I think the other person did bring up a good counter point "To whom were they sold to?" To be upfront the original argument was around the conjectured reasoning behind Apples move from SF to SJ, so lets stick with that ok.. Enjoy California.

    1. Re:so, here is something interesting.. a thank you by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      Hey Tim, upon reflection, I do owe you some thanks for correcting some of the facts I placed out there.. OK X-serves did remain in production for over a year, but I think the other person did bring up a good counter point "To whom were they sold to?" To be upfront the original argument was around the conjectured reasoning behind Apples move from SF to SJ, so lets stick with that ok.. Enjoy California.

      Yeah, like SIXTEEN TIMES longer than the 6 months you originally claimed. ;-)

      They sold a bunch to some Universities. I think Virginia Tech even made a supercomputer out of a roomful of them.

      Beyond that, they had some success with some Rendering Farms for a couple of movie-industry companies. Can't remember any names off hand. But they couldn't compete head to head with Linux in that market due to cost considerations.

      Unfortunately, they never got serious traction in business, mostly due to price; but they were a fine piece of tech, built with Apple's usual insane attention to detail, and I really wish they had made the transition to Intel.