End of the conference era?
Problem with online methods of learning, is it's much harder to take a day off your day job to watch YouTube, or listen to podcasts. Conferences are like a vacation from regular work, where you can focus on learning.<p>Also, the ability to see people in person, and discuss ideas with them directly is a very different experience from watching a YouTube channel. On a conference, you can meet new people, get job offers, meet new clients etc. directly. Conferences are far from only about educating the audience (author is entirely correct in the if all you care about is learning a new tech, it's more efficient to look up a tutorial on YouTube).