Both David Hansson and Chad Fowler have announced that videos of the keynote presentations given at RailsConf 2007 are now available to view online. The downside is that you only see the speakers and not their slides or accompanying code, so keep that in mind before digging in too deep. The best presentations are David's keynote and Ze Frank's (though Ze's is totally irrelevant in topic, naturally).
Comments
Michael Riley ·
You can download the slides/presentations if you wish to view them at:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/51/presentations.html
PabloC ·
Any idea where we can get the full .MOV for downloading?
Rev. Dan ·
> though Ze’s is totally irrelevant in topic
Really? Building a community and the interactions therein are irrelevant for RailsConf/ the Rails Community? If that's the takeaway you got, you might want to consider watching it again, 'cause it was certainly very relevant... perhaps moreso than Dave Thomas' keynote (which seemed a bit out to lunch to me).
In fact, I'd assert that Ze's keynote was the most relevant and progressive part of RailsConf 2007. Seriously. Ze's commentary and observations are still relevant while DHH's comments about REST and Rails 2.0 are seriously old and dated.
I remember hearing a few people grumble about Ze after his keynote, but they're the kind of folks who I usually throw in the "just don't get it/ just won't get it" bucket. In fact, it surprised me that they weren't at JavaOne or something instead.
Rev. Dan ·
@PabloC: There's a "download" link in microscopic letters on the individual episode pages. You can get there by clicking the "Episodes Archive" link and then selecting an individual episode. Pretty "meh" UI/navigation, but it's possible to download 'em from blip.tv.
Here's a link to Ze's keynote, which is, IMNSHO the primary one worth watching. :)
http://railsconf.blip.tv/file/569570/
Peter Cooper ·
Rev. Dan: He doesn't get to anything vaguely relevant in the whole first 30 minutes. I'll admit I got a bit sick of it at that point and didn't watch the rest, but what I did watch was very entertaining none the less.
I've gone back to look at the rest of his presentation and.. not so entertaining, but if there's any relevance to Rails, it's all a bit "soft" and humanistic. I gotta admit I prefer the technical ones. Community is something that figures itself out.
Ben ·
I have to admit, I'm actually a big fan of keynotes that aren't immediately or obviously "relevant." In addition to being a quick break from the rest of the conference, Ze's talk gave all of us there something to both think and talk about... and I'd definitely say it's the one most worth seeing again.
PabloC ·
@RevDan: Thanks! :)
Steve Lloyd ·
For my money the best keynote by far was Avi Bryant's, with a lot of very cogent commentary on the histories of Ruby and Smalltalk. "...the future of Ruby is here, its just that we've got it over in the Smalltalk world, and you guys should come and get it..."