macOS Now a good time to buy ADC select ? + what perks of ADC are for a newbie developer?

[I'm a Mac]

I am thinking of buying an ADC select membership but I'm not quite sure if it's right for me- I'd like to hear what people in the program have to say about it. I can list some of the benefits that I'd probably use:

-Mac OS X & Server (Isn't this worth more than the $499 for the program, and I'd always thought about using Leopard server to set up a home server.)
-ADC Hardware discount -(This also pays for the program, and I'm sure me or someone in my family would use this, eventually)
-Leopard [and snow leopard?] seeds- (I'd always thought it was cool to test prerelease software- you don't get this in the student )
-WWDC sessions (You don't get this as a student, and I'm sure it would be useful to someone like me)- How useful are they... I don't think I would be able to go to WWDC anytime soon but I'm sure they have to teach you something useful in those classes, right?

I thought about getting ADC student, but without the WWDC sessions and the prerelease stuff I don't know how much good it does for me. I was also wondering about when is a good time to buy membership- with all of the new stuff coming out.

Anway, if you had any pros/cons, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

 

[HiRez]

Being able to watch all the WWDC lessons is very valuable IMO. Lots of demos and in-depth examples, tips and tricks, and information you won't get from the docs. And even though I recommend going to WWDC if you can for the social aspect, you can only be in one room watching one session at any given time, when there are like 8 rooms going all day long, so you inevitably cannot see all the sessions you want to. Having QuickTimes of them all available is the next best thing to being there (not to mention travel and hotel can be steep nowadays, or getting an entire week off can be difficult if you have a real day job).

 

[I'm a Mac]

I would love to go to WWDC, but I probably won't make it their for a couple years. Anyway, do they still offer basic sessions on Cocoa and Objective-C? I am in the process of trying to teach myself with Kochan and Hillegasse's books but there's nothing like having a teacher explain something to you. Also, I understand they tons of sessions, and with all of this new stuff coming out I'm excited to start learning... until I realize how hard this stuff is

Anyway, would now be a good time to buy? Or should I wait?

 

[I'm a Mac]

Also, how long is the ADC hardware discount good for?

 

[Cromulent]

Also, how long is the ADC hardware discount good for?

With select you get a hardware discount every time you renew your membership (i.e once a year).

 

[I'm a Mac]

With select you get a hardware discount every time you renew your membership (i.e once a year).

So if I bought membership now, and didn't renew it next year, would I still be eligible for my hardware discount after my membership expired?

Or what if I renewed it 1 month later, then would I be eligible for two hardware discounts?

 

[Cromulent]

So if I bought membership now, and didn't renew it next year, would I still be eligible for my hardware discount after my membership expired?

Or what if I renewed it 1 month later, then would I be eligible for two hardware discounts?

No to both. 1 hardware discount per year per membership (I would imagine they check the person as well).

 

[Sayer]

Getting to work with pre-release Mac OSX releases is nice no matter what level you are.

You can get a jump on learning new APIs and test existing code against future changes to the OS with software seeds under ADC.

 

[numero]

Being able to watch all the WWDC lessons is very valuable IMO. Lots of demos and in-depth examples, tips and tricks, and information you won't get from the docs. And even though I recommend going to WWDC if you can for the social aspect, you can only be in one room watching one session at any given time, when there are like 8 rooms going all day long, so you inevitably cannot see all the sessions you want to. Having QuickTimes of them all available is the next best thing to being there (not to mention travel and hotel can be steep nowadays, or getting an entire week off can be difficult if you have a real day job).

See http://developer.apple.com/adconitunes/overview.html for a chart of who gets what. The short version is that only WWDC attendees and Premier members get the full videos. The Leopard Tech Talks are available to Select (or higher) members and the iPhone Talks are available to Online (or higher) members.

 

[numero]

Anyway, do they still offer basic sessions on Cocoa and Objective-C? I am in the process of trying to teach myself with Kochan and Hillegasse's books but there's nothing like having a teacher explain something to you.

If you really want a Cocoa class then I would suggest looking into the Big Nerd Ranch class on Cocoa. http://www.bignerdranch.com/classes/cocoa.shtml I haven't gone, but I've heard from an attendee of the class that it is great. $3500 plus your travel expenses (food and lodging is part of the deal).

The sessions at WWDC are only 75 minutes long. During this time Apple is selling the latest technologies. They don't have a lot of time to explain the basics.

During the iPhone talks this year they did kind of overkill the explanation of target/action and MVC. I think that was because of the high number of Windows developers in attendance.

Keep with the Hillegass book. Haven't seen the Kochan book. When you are done with the books then you should have enough confidence to dig through Apple's guides and API docs to find what you need. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[numero]

-Mac OS X & Server (Isn't this worth more than the $499 for the program, and I'd always thought about using Leopard server to set up a home server.)

Apple provides developers with a serial number for server that expires every 6 months. If you time it right then your server would run for 18 months and then stop working.

 

[Cromulent]

I know this is under NDA but does anyone know if the Snow Leopard beta that was given out at WWDC is available to ADC select / premier members yet? If it has there wouldn't really be much stopping me from getting it (Select ADC membership that is).

Edit : Feel free to send me a private message if you don't want to disclose it in public.

 

[I'm a Mac]

I know this is under NDA but does anyone know if the Snow Leopard beta that was given out at WWDC is available to ADC select / premier members yet? If it has there wouldn't really be much stopping me from getting it (Select ADC membership that is).

Edit : Feel free to send me a private message if you don't want to disclose it in public.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Feel free to send me a private message also.

Also, I know this is kind of off topic, but what good resources are there for iPhone development other than apple documentation, which in my opinion is annoying to read.

 

[Cromulent]

Also, I know this is kind of off topic, but what good resources are there for iPhone development other than apple documentation, which in my opinion is annoying to read.

That is the best I'm afraid, and as programming documentation goes the Apple docs are probably the best you are going to find. Try reading some of the documentation for some open source projects, now that is god awful.