Yes it is certainly not fair that the network they spend one page explaining and probably weeks training and researching can be hardwired in 30 lines of python. This is very unfair. But this is the reality, and so the post states.

Also the idea to add coordinate as a feature has been used in the past without giving even much thought.

Toy examples are great. As long as they are not trivial. Some guy, presumably smart, once said that "things should be as simple as possible but not simpler". The toy example they play with is just too simple.