You aren't wrong. I've been going to hackathons for many years and there's been a steady increase in folks who are going "to win" rather than folks going for the fun, the energy, the comradeship. Meeting other smart folks, sharpening your skills and having fun were always the big drivers for me and everyone I used to meet at them. I think GroupMe was a turning point. Big win, lots of $$, and that attracted a different kind of person unfortunately.
Did you hear about the student hackathon in Waterloo Ontario, Hack the North? The organizers purposely did not announce anything relating to prizes for the whole event until the end. The funny thing was that nobody even asked! For the finals they ended up giving the top 10 teams equal prizes; there was no 1st 2nd 3rd etc.
You're probably right. last hackathon I went to was two years ago and it was the first time people were actually trying to win. Weirded me out. I stopped going because of that.
