I think this type of instance maybe why the C64 has the reputation of encouraging hackers that it does. This is the perfect example to me of hacking to make something better.
I think a big part of the beauty of the C64 is that there were so many of them, and they were all more or less the same (although the hardwere went through many revisions). That meant people quickly ran up against the same boundaries, and identified amazing ways to push past them.