On Hackathons, or “Hackathons should be considered harmful” (thephp.cc)

Interesting, but very one-sided perspective and a single example should IMHO not be a reason to judge all of them. Even though 3 hours are especially short, I think a similar feeling is at the end of most hackathons.

Still, they offer a great venue to try something new, work with new people, experiment, do stuff you otherwise wouldn't (but maybe should), ... Not all bad ;)