On the one hand it is good that the White house had a hackathon. On the other hand they didn't. Nothing interesting really got built, the time limit was brutally restrictive and it might be childish to say but seeing everyone at a hackathon wear business clothes is really weird. You really don't need a suit to be serious.
In the end it seems like this was done so that at some point down the road they can say the Whitehouse had a hackathon.
Likewise, what in the world would you call "useful"? Hurling ignorant things like that sounds silly if you don't follow it up with something "useful."
I spent a lot of time talking with the organizers and their superiors at the hackathon and trust me this wont be the last one they have.
And I can't speak for anyone else who participated, but my project is going to live on and continue to improve. Maybe one day you'll even find it interesting. I suspect others who participated will do the same with theirs.