Google kicked off their annual Code Jam last week that sees programmers from all over the world competing to solve various algorithms. Our own Micael Marr participated in the qualification round and even live blogged his attempts to answer the questions. It seems that Google is upping the stakes for the Code Jam by offering Google I/O tickets to developers who can solve a challenge tomorrow.
You heard that right, folks. The Google I/O tickets that sold out in 20 minutes this year and made countless developers all riled up that they couldn’t get one. Google is offering you a second chance to get your hands on some of those tickets. The only thing you have to do is be at Google Developer’s Google+ page tomorrow at 7:00 a.m PDT. Google will post a two-part challenge with the first 100 developers who solve it given a chance to buy Google I/O tickets.
If the excitement made you skip that last sentence, let me repeat that for you. Google is only offering you the chance to buy Google I/O tickets. This is a contest where the award is spending $900 to attend a conference that sold out within minutes this year.
Of course, there are some people who have the money and are willing to do anything to get a hold of those tickets. For those who want to participate, Google has some advice for you. First, you’ll want to register in advance. Considering how crazy people are for those Google I/O tickets, registering right now would be the best option. If you need a warm up or some help, Google also has the usual guide and questions to get you started on your quest to spend money on Google I/O tickets.
As an aside, if this is Google’s way of getting back into developer’s good books, I’m not buying it. I’m sure plenty of people are going to take part in this tournament, but making developers buy the prize is a pretty rotten move. It’s like if Charlie found the Golden Ticket, but then Wonka forced him to pay a fee to actually take the tour of the Chocolate Factory. Sure, the rich kids who found their tickets will be able to go in, but the real dreamers, in this case developers, are being locked out of attending something that would be beneficial to them.
Do you think Google should charge the winners for the I/O tickets? Or at least give them a discount? Let us know in the comments.