Who else has had the misfortune of working with a PIC?

I'm in the process of rewriting some code for the PIC that doesn't work. The company basically asked me to do this until such time as the migration to the 8052 is complete.

This is my first time working with PICs and, to be honest, I absolutely do not understand what their appeal is. I especially don't understand their appeal in the hobbyist segment; assuming most hobbyists aren't going to care too much whether a part costs $1 or $5, even if an 8052 is more expensive than a bottom-of-the-line PIC, why suffer through that architecture if you're only producing a few?

I'm just amazed that anyone would intentionally use this architecture.

Regards,
Craig Steiner