I agree that in training it's essential to use only the basic instruments to acquire the 'fundamentals' upon which instrument flying is based.
However, once in the world of commercial aviation and big jets the technology is available and should be used to it's maximum (and I'm not referring to automation here before I receive all the flak).
In fact I believe our airliners are not taking advantage of all the technology currently available, if you take a look at Biz Jets for example. If we could make Electronic Flight Bags (backed up with one copy of paper charts) available on every med-lge airliner, along with EVS and all of those other clever Biz Jet toys, our situational awareness would be much greater with a much reduced workload.
I love flying on the basics without the automation when it's a nice day and a nice location like the States, but if I'm flying into Addis Ababa in a monsoon at night I'd like all the safety tools available to me please.
MGC