there is a bright side to it - the 'sold out in a hour' situation last year was ridiculous. While i would have preferred a coding challenge to eliminate that problem, a price increase is another method of fixing it.
Yes, but it's a poor way to fix it. A high price just means that corporate people looking to get some free goodies will be more likely to attend than hackers who have to pay the $900 out of their own pockets.
This will be the first time I won't even bother to register. Too much money.
Another way would have been to announce that they won't be giving away any hardware, that would have kept away the "it pays for it self and I get some cool goodies" crowd away so real developers could go.
The last two years, Google has said "There are no plans for giveaways." And of course, attendees actually got about $1000 worth in stuff in 2010 (Droid phone, EVO, Google TV), and $1200 worth in freebies in 2011 (Galaxy Tab 10.1, Chromebook, Verizon hotspot).
They could say there are no giveaways, but nobody's going to listen to the boy who cried wolf anymore.
They should charge the $900 and not give away any hardware without announcing whether or not they're going to. They'll be able to have $400 tickets next year without selling out as fast.
This will be the first time I won't even bother to register. Too much money.