Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Santa Clara County Asks Apple, Google and Others to Cancel Large In-Person Meetings and Conferences
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I agree. The common flu so far just in the US has hit 30M. Where is the panic over this number? There isn’t, because the flu is just a fact of life. We’ll get through this. Don’t panic. Get back to work.
[automerge]1583475243[/automerge]
I agree. It is a weak virus, but being made into a strong political weapon.
The media is salivating over all of this. They are playing their audience as fools.
Last edited:
There’s nothing to reschedule... it hasn’t even been announced. June is three months away.
Why not redirect some of your outrage at SXSW? It’s next week. Call Austin city officials and see if you can make them understand how serious this is.
Just because it is heading towards a pandemic or will most likely be a pandemic does not make it a pandemic. Using that term loosely can trigger panic and overcrowding in places that need to treat the virus in a controlled manner. And since it’s still not being transmitted freely around the world (i.e., virus origins still point back to China) we are still in containment mode and not mitigation mode yet. Any premature proclamations could do more harm than good to those that need treatment most.
It has become quite serious in my presumably safe out of the way area this week. 
www.theolympian.com
Elementary school in Shelton closed Tuesday for deep cleaning over coronavirus concern
The spouse of a Mt. View Elementary School staff member was a first responder at a COVID-19 outbreak at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, the school says.
www.theolympian.com
The long term impact on the world wide economy with this whole thing will be interesting.
our business literally had to be shut down in Italy. Staff is trapped in Italian cities. Companies with corona virus cases get a bad image for unjustified reasons.
planes not taking off, costing airlines millions. the german automobile industry getting hit hard by the Chinese market or lack thereof at the moment and so on
our business literally had to be shut down in Italy. Staff is trapped in Italian cities. Companies with corona virus cases get a bad image for unjustified reasons.
planes not taking off, costing airlines millions. the german automobile industry getting hit hard by the Chinese market or lack thereof at the moment and so on
I attend WWDC most years - it’s exciting to travel to San Jose and meet with developers from around the world, link up with the Apple folks And get the “vibe” of what’s happening in the developed community. There’s some elements of in-person attendance that are not replicated in a streamed, remote engagement.
That said, I would entirely understand if Apple elected to make this more of a press/webcast event - I imagine they’ll be looking at the perception of holding a conference in June 2020. In reality it’s likely pretty safe (given that most attendees are not in high-risk groups) but the optics are potentially damaging.
I sincerely hope we’ll look back on Covid19-L and think that the commercial fallout within the travel, event and hospitality sectors was a massive over-reaction, but for now it’s understandable that global brands approach this from a corporate responsibility angle rather than one based purely on scientific evidence.
i guess the main event-based impact is likely to be related to major sports ...
That said, I would entirely understand if Apple elected to make this more of a press/webcast event - I imagine they’ll be looking at the perception of holding a conference in June 2020. In reality it’s likely pretty safe (given that most attendees are not in high-risk groups) but the optics are potentially damaging.
I sincerely hope we’ll look back on Covid19-L and think that the commercial fallout within the travel, event and hospitality sectors was a massive over-reaction, but for now it’s understandable that global brands approach this from a corporate responsibility angle rather than one based purely on scientific evidence.
i guess the main event-based impact is likely to be related to major sports ...
Comparing nCov to the flu in that way makes no sense. Influenza is vastly more widespread for one thing, and the flu season has been going on for months longer than when nCov-19 burst on to the scene. You know what else doesn't kill as many people each years as the flu? Ebola. Ask yourself which one you'd prefer to be exposed to if you had to choose, influenza or ebola. By your logic it would be influenza because its killed more. But IF you get ebola its worse. The same appears to be true of nCov-19, the fatality rate is currently much higher. Now that is probably not the actual mortality rate, because we don't have a good idea on how widespread it is yet. But it would have to be VERY widespread to be as low as the flu.
Beyond that, we have decades of experience with treating influenza. We have vaccines that people can (and should) take each year for influenza. Sadly the world is imperfect and some people will get sick, and some people will die, but basing your analysis solely on the CURRENT death count makes no sense. By that logic we shouldn't respond to any disease until it reaches influenza levels. OR we could be proactive when presented with novel viruses and try to prevent unnecessary death and damage using reasonable efforts.
Its fine to discuss and debate what a reaonsable effort is, how long should we limit large gatherings, how soon will they start again, who should be tested first, etc. But those decisions and discussions should be based on actual facts from people who actually understand these types of situations. Not people like yourself who take numbers out of context and ignore the whole picture just to try and make a point.
nCov-19 is new, and there is ample reason to be concerned about it. Not panicked, but concerned. Until we know more and until there are better treatments and prevention methods (likely at least a year for the vaccine for example) then no, we should not treat this like the flu.
WWDC is not going to happen, at least not with 5000 developers from all over the world.
Developers need to have beta for a few months, so they can't postpone the conference. In theory they could delay and rescheduled for the end of June, but I don't think it going to make a big difference as far as the virus is concerned, so they'd better release the beta and videos for developers as usual at the beginning of June.
The vast majority of developers don't attend the conference in person anyway, and hundreds of Apple engineers need to be there in person for the entire week so making it online would be a time saving for Apple. I'm sure they'll stream the keynote, but they'll do it from their campus with a bunch of employees in the audience just to avoid an empty theatre that would look weird on streaming.
Being there in person is different, and better, as you can meet with other developers but there are many conferences for iOS developers all around the world, so there will be other occasions. Not to mention how expensive is to fly there and book a hotel for the entire week. I'm sure is great, but not many people can afford to attend.
Developers need to have beta for a few months, so they can't postpone the conference. In theory they could delay and rescheduled for the end of June, but I don't think it going to make a big difference as far as the virus is concerned, so they'd better release the beta and videos for developers as usual at the beginning of June.
The vast majority of developers don't attend the conference in person anyway, and hundreds of Apple engineers need to be there in person for the entire week so making it online would be a time saving for Apple. I'm sure they'll stream the keynote, but they'll do it from their campus with a bunch of employees in the audience just to avoid an empty theatre that would look weird on streaming.
Being there in person is different, and better, as you can meet with other developers but there are many conferences for iOS developers all around the world, so there will be other occasions. Not to mention how expensive is to fly there and book a hotel for the entire week. I'm sure is great, but not many people can afford to attend.
It's quite clear already there's no 'overreaction' in measures from any quarter. The battle to contain the disease has been decisively lost, it's going to (already is) spread unchecked. The measures governments and companies are taking are there to delay the infections and spread them over a longer time to give health services the best chance to cope with it. What we want to avoid is a massive, acute peak in numbers (see image in spoiler) overwhelming any possibility of caring for everyone who needs help to get over it. It will also help if the peak can be pushed back into the Summer (in the northern hemisphere) when health services are usually under less pressure from other illnesses like seasonal flu.
At my (very well known) tech company people have worked productively from home for years, however the company has recently decided to enforce the rule that the majority of the week is spent at an office that is in many cases WAAAAY away from where people live for no reason other than, erm, spite? Because, y'know, if the office is too far away you can always take your years of experience and knowledge and leave.
Not dismissing away from the seriousness of the situation, but Macrumors authors sure do love their Daily ‘fillers’ when it comes to articles like this. Just sayin.
Looking at the massive congestion problems the commuting rush hour causes, sometimes it feels like natural common sense to maximise home working...
Local authorities are saying the same thing as the media and for good reason.
Here's some leaked footage from Wuhan during the height of the outbreak. This is what's awaiting us if we act like idiots because "it's all fake news and it can't happen here."
That video contains footage that was banned by the Chinese government. The guy who filmed it has since vanished as did another guy who dared show video of ground zero in Wuhan.
This is not the flu. The heavy handed reaction isn't because of politics or because everyone else is too dumb and too chicken to think for themselves. Watch the video. That is what a healthcare system that has been overrun looks like. THAT is why China went nuts and shut down all of their major cities to the point that authorities were seen welding shut the doors of apartment buildings in some places to ensure that nobody could leave the building.
Last edited:
I LOATHE college sports. All fall Saturday is nothing but college football. All spring is the March basketball crap.
I understand the gambling degenerates need SOMETHING to sink their teeth into, but can't they just put it all on a special cable channel and put on something watchable like re runs of Taxi or travel shows?
It doesn't matter where the origin points. Parts of Italy are on lockdown:
As coronavirus deaths rise, Italy considers new quarantine zones
Italy now has the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths outside China, having surpassed Iran.
If you live on the US coasts, signs already point to it being transmitted freely. Once we have test kits, you're going to see the number of infected go way up. It's currently very hard to get tested. If you don't live on the coasts, don't worry. You have nothing to worry about... for maybe an additional week or two.
[automerge]1583494117[/automerge]
For good reason.
Those (excluding H1N1 ) didn't spread around the world like Corona is currently doing and H1N1 has a lower mortality rate than Corona. Though, at the moment, panic is a larger threat than the actual virus for the large majority.
Last edited:
Streaming it without an audience would help with Schiller's awkward af on-stage presence, and no cringey demos from developers.
Update: Stella did say that H1N1 spread around. I just didn't read it correctly.
Actually H1N1 did spread around. We just didn't know it. H1N1 was initially thought to have a extremely high Case Fatality Rate (way higher than CoV-19). It was then discovered that there were mild cases walking around and the fatality rate was brought down into the low single digits, which was still very high, but not apocalyptic. It was only well after H1N1 was under control that widespread blood serum studies showed that scores of people were actually infected and were so mild that they didn't know.
That's the hope for CoV-19, but it wouldn't be wise to assume so. In any case, regardless of what the final numbers are, the virus brought China to a grinding halt. If anyone's not persuaded by numbers, just look at actual evidence of what it did already.
Last edited:
Are you being serious? Because if you are, and other at least minimally educated, literate people like you have even the slightest doubt about the answers to these “questions,” then we really are lost as an American people.
In that sad case, it might be best if 3.5% of the population were killed by this virus, so that those left alive were compelled to reassess, rebuild, and move on — without the willfully ignorant and incorrigibly narcissistic remaining to poison further our political gene pool moving forward.
"Those (excluding H1N1 ) didn't spread around the world like Corona is currently"
^ I know H1N1 spread. That was the swine flu back in 2009.
It's obvious China stopped the spread of it internally, but the virus still spread out of its borders, as we are seeing. Most countries ( especially western ) could not possibly replicate the measures China took, such as welding house doors shut, door to door searches of infected people and so on.
^ I know H1N1 spread.
That was the swine flu back in 2009.It's obvious China stopped the spread of it internally, but the virus still spread out of its borders, as we are seeing. Most countries ( especially western ) could not possibly replicate the measures China took, such as welding house doors shut, door to door searches of infected people and so on.
No, it IS a pandemic. By definition. It’s now a world wide disease. It hasn’t been declared a “legal” pandemic that triggers certain things, but the term “pandemic” does not refer to the legal declaration.
