I'd like to go, but I am working at a seed stage company and don't have $900 to blow on conference tickets. Sadly, I'm not a student now either. No breaks for poor programmers?
People (with less money) genuinely interested in the development talks, establishing connections, getting to know fellow developers and have interesting conversations, would be a second rank citizen to the "tech enthusiast" with a lot of money to spend.
I've found that the I/O Extended event works out well... They hold them in many countries now, and live stream the keynotes. It's a great atmosphere, and you meet interesting people.
Outside of Extended, the tech talks/firesides should be streamed live via YouTube. It was a bit hit and miss last year... hope it's smoother this time.
I believe Google's trying to recoup most or all of the cost, which must be high if they're subsidising the gadget giveaways.
Can't say I'm a fan of the sensationalism either. Would be interested to see them make one more like an academic conference than a trade show expo.