Apple has always spread quite the ripples in the tech world with its innovative, out of the box schemes to meet the ever growing dynamic demands of its tech savvy consumer base. The Worldwide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) is another of this pioneer’s methods to unveil its latest advancements in the manner of a conference that allows a holistic conversation among leading developers about the future of technology. The showcase allows the exhibition of various avantgarde technological machinations in the Apple range of MacOS iOS iPadOS watchOS and tvOS along with other Apple software.
Brief History of the WWDC
The first ever WWDC was held in 1983 with the unveiling of Lisa, the first computer with the graphical user interface (GUI) , Apple Basic and extreme secrecy amid an NDA..The event became an event for the launch of its new software only after Steve Jobs assumed CEO-ship of the company in 1997. The movement from an almost failing economically challenged organization to the largest tech juggernaut can be explored vis a vis the importance WWDC came to play over the years. The conference has been held in San Jose Convention Center in California for a long time, then moved on to San Francisco and back to the initial location of San Jose Convention Center. The event has grown up to be Apple’s primary media event of the year and documents a large number of innovative changes in the technological world.
The WWDC for the year 2022 is to be held in an online medium in light of the resurging COVID-19 pandemic rates and safety measures in place, in the same vein as 2021.
Key features of the WWDC
WWDC is held annually from Monday to Friday for one week in June. This year it is slated to be from 6th June to 10h June. The conference consists primarily of a keynote address, presentation sessions, one-on-one “lab” consultations, and special get-togethers and events. Till Steve Jobs ‘ death in 2011 this keynote was delivered by Steve Jobs that the media popularly dubbed as Stevenote.
The conference begins with a Monday morning keynote address by Tim Cook and other Apple executives. It is attended by both conference attendees and the media, -Apple regularly makes product announcements at the event and that is definitely an event highlight. The keynote address is followed in the afternoon by a Platforms State of the Union address, which highlights and demonstrates changes in Apple’s software developer platforms that are detailed in sessions later throughout the rest of the week of the conference. The Apple Design Awards are also announced on the first day of the conference- a rather prestigious award that recognizes and honors excellence in innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement in app and game design through categories like interactivity, inclusivity and so on. .
Several sessions run simultaneously from Tuesday to Friday and the presentations at these sessions cover programming, design, and other topics ranging from introductory to advanced levels of programming prowess . Almost all regularly scheduled presentations are delivered by Apple employees. These presentations are live streamed and recordings can be viewed on demand on the Apple Developer website in the iOS and tvOS available in the conference. Lunchtime sessions are given by a variety of guest speakers who are industry experts with veritable skills in relevant technology and science; these sessions are not streamed or recorded. A popular Stump the Experts session featured interaction between Apple employees and attendees as an attractive question and answer session with scope for personal interactions.
Workings of the WWDC
At the labs, which run throughout the week, Apple engineers are available for one-on-one consultations along with keen developers in attendance.Experts of the user interface and accessibility can be accessed through prior appointments which definitely leads to a wealth of possibilities through the conjugation of innovation and experience.
Apple alsoorganizes social get-togethers during the conference for various groups, such as women interested in the technological world or developers interested in machine language development or internationalization. The Thursday evening Bash (previously known as the Beer Bash) is held at a nearby park and the event features live music, food, and drinks for all attendees of legal age ( 21 years or older).
Popularity of the WWDC
The footfall at a niche technological conference of this sort is truly amazing with a crowd of 6000 reported in the tally of 2018. In 2021 the online presence at the event also clocked a little higher than 6000 which marks how the popularity or relevance for the Apple name has not gone down even in a post pandemic world. The tickets for this conference are usually available through an online lottery and the tickets are priced at $1599. There are provisions for scholarship students who are associated with STEM and there is a minimum age limit for entry into the event- 13 years.
A Social Approach of the WWDC
Susan Prescott, the Vice President of Apple WWDC Relations and Enterprise and Education Marketing has remarked,” At its heart, WWDC has always been a forum to create connection and build community. In that spirit, WWDC22 invites developers from around the world to come together to explore how to bring their best ideas to life and push the envelope of what’s possible. We love connecting with our developers, and we hope all of our participants come away feeling energized by their experience.” Apple is an ever expanding family at this point with a consumer base of 1.8 billion active devices globally registered, in a manner of breaking previous records and labels. The Apple WWDC is also a socially aware platform that stands in solidarity with the young researchers of today with bright hopes about pushing the envelope of ever dynamic technical realities.
At WWDC22, Apple’s growing global community of more than 30 million enthusiastic developers will gain invaluable insight and access to the technologies and tools to bring their visions into reality- there will be an increased availability of more cutting-edge learning labs, more digital lounges to engage with attendees, and more localized content to make WWDC22 a truly unique pan continent event that brings digital inclusivity into the fold.
Marking it third year, Apple comes back with its sustainable vision of supporting students who love to code with the Swift Student Challenge. Swift Playgrounds is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that makes learning the Swift programming language interactive and fun. For this year’s challenge, students from around the world are invited to create a Swift Playgrounds app project on a topic of their choice, and they can submit their work through April 25.
Apple envisions a truly global movement in the revolutionary sectors of technology through this annual convention that definitely holds the key potentialities of our lived realities as the online and offline divides are further blurred by a pre Pandemic world.
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