The inaugural Worldwide Developers Conference was held in 1983 in Monterrey. Since then, it has been held in Santa Clara and San Francisco before moving to the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California.
From 1998 to 2011, the conference started with a keynote presentation delivered by Steve Jobs. These keynote speeches were colloquially called Stevenotes. Jobs used keynote addresses to show new product releases to the public and to announce major company news. He delivered his final Stevenote in 2011, announcing iCloud. Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple soon after that and died in October 2011. Since then, keynote speeches at WWDC have been delivered by his successor, Tim Cook.
WWDC is a showcase of Apple’s new software and technologies. New models and versions of iPhone, iPad, MacBook, OS X and iOS are usually unveiled at WWDC. Products that were announced or showcased at the conference include QuickTime, OpenDoc, the Carbon API, Mac Pro, iPod Touch, Swift, watchOS, and many others.
Alongside keynotes, announcements and unveilings, the programming includes hands-on labs and in-depth technical and designed-focused sessions with Apple engineers. Attendees can participate in numerous events covering a wide range of topics. They include one-on-one guidance sessions with experts, get-togethers, talks delivered by guest speakers, and more.
Until 2007, the number of attendees varied between 2,000 and 4,200. From 2008 to 2015, the WWDC events have been capped because of the venue’s limitations (the Moscone Center in San Francisco could host about 5,000 attendees) and sold out almost immediately. For example, the last ticket for the 2013 event was sold 71 seconds after the sales had started. To reward and encourage talented students and STEM organization members, Apple provides them with scholarships that cover a ticket to the event, lodging, and one year of membership in the Apple Developer Program.
Those who couldn’t snatch a ticket can watch some of the WWDS events online. The organizers live stream sessions daily and post videos of all sessions throughout the conference. These videos are available online and in the WWDC app.
Photo: exstreamist.com
