Sean,
I think you make a good statement, it comes down to what a person perceived with the word quality. In Europe ISO9000 forced involved to define the meaning of quality. I got involved in the period when the Berlin wall opened up, and all of a sudden the trabant car became on of the icons of that period in our history. We had an discussion on quality and someone asked: which car is the best quality: mercedes or trabant. Invariably most if not all would initally say without hesitation: Mercedes. However after discussion and agree on what is quality, the outcome is quality is a measure of fullfilment of one's need. Then a trabant can be of better quality than a mercedes.
Regards,
Jan R.