Judging from jedburg's post, I'd argue that it allows them to hire people who would rather spend 3 hours up-front writing some code than spend 3 hours up-front

Judging from jedburg's post, I'd argue that it allows them to hire people who would rather spend 3 hours up-front writing some code than spend 3 hours up-front writing a cover letter. Which is preferable for the programmer, too, since the up-front, likely 'wasted' time is spent doing something enjoyable. The investment in writing a cover letter only comes after.