It’s Apple’s choice what they do and the directions they go, but if the WWDC keynote really is for enthusiasts, press, and analysts it’s disingenuous to say it’s part of a Developer Conference.
Unfortunately I have to see “join the developer community” and “dedicated site at developer.apple.com” the same way as I see a big brand responding to a high-traction social media complaint with “Contact us privately so we can look in to it”: a way to pull the issue out of the public eye and in to a tightly-controlled environment that favours the brand over of the end user.
> but if the WWDC keynote really is for enthusiasts, press, and analysts it’s disingenuous to say it’s part of a Developer Conference.
About every conference has an opening keynote that doesn’t get into nitty-gritty details, but that informs both the participants and the press what the conference will be about.
It typically follows on a part where the local mayor/minister/… will welcome the participants, saying how good it is for the city/region/country to have the conference in their city/region/country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keynote: “At political or industrial conventions and expositions and at academic conferences, the keynote address or keynote speech is delivered to set the underlying tone and summarize the core message or most important revelation of the event”
I don’t see the WWDC keynotes as much different, except for the fact that Apple’s keynotes attract way more press than most other ones.
Yes, like all keynotes in all industries, it is about the larger ecosystem and new developments.
Cardiology keynotes are about global attention to heart health, not how a cardiothoraccic surgeon can rotate a stent to improve success.
Energy conference keynotes are about changing patterns in production and use of energy, not the novel polymers in the latest solar cells.
Keynotes are by definition intended to tie everything together (I like to believe the word was used a playful anagram). Pointing out that a keynote is not the most personally/professionally relevant part of a conference for the average attendee is not going to surprise anyone who’s been to conferences.
Unfortunately I have to see “join the developer community” and “dedicated site at developer.apple.com” the same way as I see a big brand responding to a high-traction social media complaint with “Contact us privately so we can look in to it”: a way to pull the issue out of the public eye and in to a tightly-controlled environment that favours the brand over of the end user.