"I want Low to actually be Low, dammit, somewhere around 170-180 deg F, not a couple degrees shy of a full boil."
Yeah, guess who ruined that for you?
People who got sick because food temperatures fell into the danger zone and nasty critters started to grow. Old crock pots would often hold a low temperature under 140 degrees, and warm would be about 110... danger danger ptomaine range...