I think you have to be careful what you choose to read into the example.  The exercise was about problem solving and trying not to impose an entirely artificial constraint that was neither wanted or specified by the instigator.

The problem of development teams shoe-horning cool, but irrelevant, features into software has always been with us but has been constrained by hardware.  Office 97 had all sorts of Easter eggs in it.  There have been variations on Star Trek games on mini and mainframe computers long before home computers, let alone PCs were invented.

I have not noticed customers being overly flexible in their requirements.  I have noticed them shopping around until they find someone unwise enough to give them the estimate they want to hear for the work they don't have the budget for.  I have also experienced the thing where there is never time to do it right but always time to do it over.