Marco.org

I’m : a programmer, writer, podcaster, geek, and coffee enthusiast.

Why attend WWDC?

@fraserspeirs:

I would go to WWDC if I knew there would be info about an iPhone OS device in a new screen size/form factor. Nothing else is that urgent.

That would be very important news for iPhone developers. But I’d still have a hard time justifying the trip.

I’m curious to hear from other developers on this who have attended WWDC. For me to go, it would cost:

Total cost of attending: at least $3,100.

I was able to make my iPhone app reasonably without attending last year’s WWDC, even though it was an all-new platform with an all-new API in a language I didn’t know. And now I know enough that some of the WWDC sessions might be too basic to be worthwhile. I’m sure I can continue to get by without actually attending. Furthermore, if I really need some help, I can buy the set of instructional session videos a few weeks later for about $500, a fraction of the cost of actually going there.

I’m sure it’s valuable, but is it $3,100-valuable for an independent developer doing this in his free time? I highly doubt it, but I’d love to hear opinions from people like me who have attended.

There are a lot of other ways I could spend $3,100 that would directly improve my app and increase its sales.