The hype. The sell-outs. The personal promises from the CEO. It wasn’t always like this.

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference began as an intimate gathering in Monterey, CA that was of little interest to anyone outside of Apple’s close-knit world of software architects. Sure, Apple was there–and at the very first conference in 1983, Lisa tagged along for her first public appearance–but there wasn’t much to speak of; quite literally, a non-disclosure agreement kept most things under lock-and-key.