blueshrimp, I'm guessing that the jobs you applied for had electronic methods of submission of CV so in your case, electronic submission was absolutely acceptable.

I would have no hesitation in discarding CVs sent to me if they failed to follow the simple and clear instructions on the advert. Bear in mind that spam filters coupled with HR not looking for people "thinking outside the box" at this point in time would mean that the application would fail.

Mind you, I'd never have a job on offer which did not support electronic submission and if I was looking for a job, if I could not submit electronically, I would consider not applying.