Given that the OTA fix actually works without detriment to the Galaxy Nexus, anything else is academic. The persistence of the "fault" in the Bootloader is irrelevant inasmuch as that is not how the phone is ever likely to be used.

The thing is, with the complexity at hand in modern day equipment it is inevitable that design defects will occur. Who is to know how many similar hardware defects are resolved in firmware before the device is shipped? The same goes on in other industries. For example, only today Honda have recalled some 250,000 Gold Wing motorcycles for a rear brake defect. I can't think for how many years these machines have been on the roads with the defect, unknown to the owners.