I would certainly not use a product that looks and feels crappy even if it solves my needs.
I could possibly don't see how it solves my needs if it does it in a crappy way too.
What are your thoughts?
In the most literal sense it's the minimum viable product, the minimum product that is viable [to sell/to test/to get feedback]. Which is still very much alive.
Most importantly your MVP should focus on the core functionality, this is often where you save most time. Products usually can branch out into many directions adding a bunch of cool, useful, but not essential features. For your MVP you should focus on the minimum functionality needed to make it valuable. Less features also means less work making them look good.
The same applies to design. The standards are higher today, so a bootstrap app might not be sufficient anymore, but you might not need an amazing experience with for example amazing graphics, animations, and delightful micro interactions to sell your product.
It very much depends on your situation and audience what your MVP might look like. For example if you target enterprise customers in an old industry the standards are much lower than consumer apps, and that bootstrap app might still work.
The challenge is determining what is and isn't essential, which is not easy. People often don't know, and that is exactly why it's good to get your product out and test it as quickly as you can so you can adapt to reality.
Would you though? And if you didn't, would you dismiss it so hard that you'd never go back to it in a few weeks/months/whenever to check its progress?
The premise of MVP is that there are people, not everyone, who is willing to use or experiment with new stuff as long as they get the job done. Polish is optional for early adopters.
So, maybe you haven't been in a situation where you just needed a problem solved, no matter the elegance but others have and there's reason why MVPs exist. It helps filter in those early adopters, who are also more likely to provide valuable feedback as they really do need their problems solved and you just happen to be there listening.