Is it time for Apple to consider a format to allow more people to attend?
While undoubtedly not a perfect substitute for attending, they did take a big positive step last year by posting the session videos only a week after and eliminating additional fee for non-attendee access to them.
This is an excellent point. I remember last year thinking that the speed with which they did that was a giant 'FU' to all the devs who paid real $ to go to those sessions. However, given the lack of outrage, plus the speed with which it sold out this year, I guess the devs don't mind. Presumably they feel they're getting sufficient value from the other aspects of it.
Also, with respect to the 'allow more people to attend', I think that would wreck their 4:1 ratio of devs to Apple engineers which they seem quite proud of?
While undoubtedly not a perfect substitute for attending, they did take a big positive step last year by posting the session videos only a week after and eliminating additional fee for non-attendee access to them.