The contest is a strange idea, unless the prize is truly massive, or the hardware target outperformed the competition. Why would anyone want to help a hardware

The contest is a strange idea, unless the prize is truly massive, or the hardware target outperformed the competition. Why would anyone want to help a hardware company make their software tools better? I even kind of like Microchip's processors, but I have no more interest in helping them compete in the hobbyist market than they do in washing my car. The Microchip guy asks: "Heck, who better to write these than the experts in the community…?" I'd suggest that a good candidate for someone better would be the people who designed the damn hardware. In the end, I'm glad to see companies moving toward open toolchains, but once we have a couple that work, the onus is on the companies to keep up with their competitors if they want to survive.