Google offers I/O tickets to atone for Code Jam snafu

Google has decided on its "least unfair" solution to its mistakes in the Code Jam tournament to win tickets to its I/O conference: everyone will be a winner.

Yesterday the Chocolate Factory admitted that its coders had made a mistake in a competition that would see 100 developers win the right to buy highly prized tickets to the conference, leaving accurate coders locked out. As a solution it is now offering every developer who took part in the competition the chance to buy a ticket.

"We originally intended to provide an opportunity to buy Google I/O tickets to the top 100 scorers. In light of our mistake, we've decided instead to offer this opportunity to all participants who have submitted any solution to either of the two problems," a Google spokeswoman told The Register.

Judging from the response on the competition's Google+ page the developer community is very happy with the solution.

While the tickets are pricey at $900 a pop, attendees get showered with free hardware - last year's conference saw giveaways of a 10.1in Samsung Galaxy Tab, as well as a Chromebook from the Korean manufacturer.

More importantly however, the show also gives developers the chance to get hands on with the latest code and attend deep dive sessions into a variety of programming areas, as well as gain some insights into where Google is taking its code base moving forward.

"Thanks Google. Seems this ended up being a brain massage with a happy ending after all ;) A fair solution. Now if only the tickets were free," commented developer Jorrit Jongma. ®