The new 11-inch HP Chromebook at $279 is attracting rave reviews. I was surprised — I never read such glowing reviews of a sub-$300 laptop of any kind. This set me thinking: maybe some aspects of quality don’t cost much, after all. Maybe a lot of things that don’t work right are failures of imagination, if you’re feeling charitable, or sheer incompetence, if you’re not, more than any intrinsic economic necessity.