I would say that a solution can never be "too easy and cheap." I argue with engineers about some solutions that they feel are "cheating" because they seem too easy. No such thing. You're paid to solve the problem, not to be clever about it.
What skills do you feel are lost by doing things the "easy" way?
I had more of that feeling. Just that I feel silly booting the whole Linux kernel on an Rpi to read a few pins and trigger a light. Totally agree that engineers should do things the easiest way, just sometimes you don't have the easy tools and you realize you've never done it the hard way.
Kinda like how I can get away with Java and Python 99% of the time but I'm glad I know systems-level C for the times you have to dive deep.
What skills do you feel are lost by doing things the "easy" way?