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Google Cancels May I/O Developer Conference Due to Coronavirus

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Google today canceled its upcoming I/O developer conference that was set to take place on May 12 to May 14 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak sweeping the United States.

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In emails sent out to Google I/O attendees, Google says that it is canceling the physical I/O event but will explore other ways to connect with the developer community. Refunds for I/O will be provided by March 13.
Due to concerns around the coronavirus (COVID-19), and in accordance with health guidance from the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities, we have decided to cancel the physical Google I/O event at Shoreline Amphitheatre.

All guests who have purchased tickets to I/O 2020 will receive a full refund by March 13, 2020. If you don't see the credit on your statement by then, please reach out to io@google.com. Guests who have registered for I/O 2020 will not need to enter next year's drawing and will be automatically granted the option of purchasing an I/O 2021 ticket.

Over the coming weeks, we will explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with our developer community. We will keep the Google I/O website updated with additional information.
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Google is the second major tech company to cancel a developer event, following Facebook's decision to cancel F8 last week. As with Facebook's F8 event, Google's I/O conference is similar in scale to WWDC, attracting approximately 5,000 developers from around the world.

I/O would have taken place in Mountain View, California, but the canceled F8 conference was set to be held at the McEnery Convention Center in San Jose, California, the same venue that Apple uses for WWDC.

Apple has not announced dates for WWDC 2020, but based on past events, June 8 to June 12 are the likely dates that Apple is targeting. If those dates are accurate, WWDC would be a month after F8 and about three weeks after I/O.

Apple may still have some time before it makes a decision about whether to cancel WWDC this year due to coronavirus concerns, but with Facebook and Google both canceling May events, it's not looking good.

The coronavirus has already caused the cancellation of several major events that include Mobile World Congress and the Game Developers Conference.

COVID-19 has infected more than 90,000 people and more than 3,000 have died, primarily in China. COVID-19 is currently spreading in the United States, and in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I/O, F8, and WWDC take place, there have been nine confirmed coronavirus cases, including several in people who caught it from community transmission with no known travel and no known contact with an infected person.

Article Link: Google Cancels May I/O Developer Conference Due to Coronavirus
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/03/03/google-cancels-io-developer-conference-coronavirus/
Seoras said:
WWDC2020 looks very unlikely to happen the way things are going.
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Apple may be breathing a sigh of relief, as this buys them some more time to work on the next major releases. Haven't seen any rumors about what is expected as new features.
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I'm sure there will be online venues to attend in some fashion to tie this year over. And 2022 will let you attend in full VR.
 
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coolfactor said:
Apple may be breathing a sigh of relief, as this buys them some more time to work on the next major releases. Haven't seen any rumors about what is expected as new features.
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I'm sure there will be online venues to attend in some fashion to tie this year over. And 2022 will let you attend in full VR.
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I don;’t see how it buys them any time. They’ll just hold the conference remotely.
 
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WWDC will likely be cancelled as well, and then Apple will have a “keynote” that’s just like any other Steve Jobs Theater event, maybe the same for PSOTU and Apple Design Awards, and have employees record the sessions that would have been presented in person.

Not sure how they’d replace the other parts of WWDC like labs, but surely there’s a way. No chance Apple gives up the “keynote,” though.
 
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Given the CDC's SARS-CoV-2 test criteria:
  • Have you been out of the country in the past 14 days?
  • Have you been in contact with someone who has tested positive?
Yeah, there's probably a lot of under reporting happening.

Most of this conference stuff can be done remotely anyways.
 
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cmaier said:
Yep. Ain't gonna be an in-person WWDC this year, looks like.

Which is good - san jose is full. We haven't any room. Stay home.
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As a fellow San Jose resident, I agree. We’re full. I’m not “overly” concerned but I do expect the Bay Area to have further outbreaks of CV. Stands to reason from the frequent travel to Asia. I’ve cancelled two trips so far.
 
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Baymowe335 said:
It almost seems the media frenzy is forcing cancellations.

This is absolutely being worsened by all the media coverage.

The fear is far more dangerous than the virus itself.
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say that to those in Iran ... which has a mortality rate fluctuating from 8-18% daily ... while China as a whole has had less than 3% - population doesn't even compare between the two.
 
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waquzy said:
Why not just cancel every event this year?!
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Too many unknowns and the statistical data is still coming in, and changing daily. It might be nothing.

Baymowe335 said:
The fear is far more dangerous than the virus itself.
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You can't say that without knowing the danger of the virus.

It's Russian roulette, and nobody knows (yet) how many bullets are in the chambers.
It could be far less dangerous than the seasonal common flu, or more fatal than 1918 Spanish Flu (check the number of deaths from that one).

I'd rather be fearful than dead (or alive in a city with 100k dead neighbors).
 
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Won't move the needle, & certainly NOT when compared to the NCAA soon announcing that NO fans will be allowed to attend ANY of the March Madness games, which will ABSOLUTELY move the needle !

Specifically, ONLY the players, coaches, & the team's support staff will be allowed to attend.

This will very-likely be the first event here in the States that truly shocks the General Public !

And, it is certainly the prudent & smart move !

And probably the first of many such moves wrt Major Sporting & Otherwise Events around the world !
 
I'll be in my studio bunker if you need me. Going to Sam's to stock up tomorrow night. Just took out a life insurance policy on myself and my wife. I also started working remotely about a month ago.

All of these things are actually true, but only one of them is related to the COVID-19, lol. The others are coincidental. With some cities like San Antonio starting to declare health emergencies, it's good to have some extra non-perishables in storage so we're headed to Sam's. I always have a few boxes of MREs and containers of water since we live in Tornado Alley, but it's best to be prepared in case a quarantine takes place. This YouTuber I follow in South Korea who does a lot of astronomy videos has been stuck in his house under quarantine and it doesn't seem very fun. But I do worry about how it could impact my wife's business, which is a daycare, and more importantly my daughter, who has been hospitalized for respiratory issues in the past and is an asthmatic kindergartener in a public school. Though I have heard it doesn't affect kids as much.
 
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