> What does that have to do with abstractions or the lack of physical constraints?
Someone like Steve Jobs becomes a forcing function to maintain a high bar of quality. He's the exception that proves the rule. In the general case you can't rely on someone like Steve Jobs, but in other domains you still have a higher minimal quality bar driven by physical constraints.
I concede that in every domain it is true that "cheap stuff made quickly breaks." My argument is that even then there is a minimal bar that is set by physical constraints. If the bridge doesn't stand it doesn't get built. If you cut too many corners or rush too much it just doesn't get built, or has to be rebuilt. This leads to overages and delay, but at the end of the process the bridge meets the physical specs or it falls over. I think the lack of any such physical constraints means that there is no such minimal bar for software and the floor of quality is therefore much lower, even in software by large, successful, and well-funded, "marquee" companies.