Apple Bans WWDC Blogging, But Will Offer Dozens of WWDC Videos

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Like WWDC 2010, 2011, Apple will offer WWDC session videos
Like WWDC 2010, 2011, Apple will offer WWDC session videos

Tickets to Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference sold out in less than two hours this morning. WWDC is a great event for any developer to attend. The media focus around WWDC, however, always centers on the keynote that kicks of the conference Monday morning – and with good reason. That’s the only public event at the show and also the least technical part of the conference.

The keynote is always more Apple announcement and preview than it is developer content. Apple uses it to announce and preview new technologies in the next iterations of OS X and iOS. The company has also used its WWDC keynote to launch new products (like the iPhone 4 in 2010).

As noted earlier today by Razorianfly, Apple is explicitly banning attendees from sharing pretty much any WWDC content. Apple’s FAQ page for the event states this rule in no uncertain terms.

May I photograph or video record keynotes or sessions?

No. Content presented at WWDC is subject to your applicable Apple Developer Program agreement(s). Taking photographs, recording video and engaging in any form of live blogging during WWDC sessions is expressly prohibited.

That’s standard practice for the event. Anything beyond the initial keynote is under strict NDA. No photos, no audio or video recording, no blogging, no tweeting – no nothing. The only public content from WWDC is the keynote, which Apple makes available via its Apple Events page and Apple Keynotes podcast. Everything else is kept under wraps.

Apple provides developers with a lot of information about its upcoming products during WWDC. It gives developers extensive information about OS X, iOS, Safari, iCloud, and just about every Apple software or service that developers can integrate into new Mac and iOS applications (or into future versions of existing apps). It also provides a lot of details on the underpinnings of almost every Apple technology. That is information that Apple has every right to protect and such a ban should be expected, particularly given how tight-lipped the company is about unannounced products.

In addition to the sessions themselves, the company also offers attendees access to hundreds of Apple engineers to answer questions about new features and APIs, help troubleshoot problem code, and mentor new developers. From an IT training perspective, the amount of information and resources available at WWDC is a bargain for developers at $1599.

While Apple won’t let developers at WWDC breath a word about what transpires during the event, it does make a large portion of the content available to developers that couldn’t attend (and those that did attend). Most sessions are recorded and made available to all Apple developer program members (both Mac and iOS) along with other training videos. WWDC 2011 and 2010 videos are currently available and Apple offers 100+ session videos from each – all also under NDA.

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