But :q and :quit does in fact quit the program. It's also the command I've been using for 20 years... Why do you think it's "wrong"?

Those are slower. ZQ is three keypresses. :q is four keypresses.

The people trying to get out of Vim probably don't care about having to press one extra key to escape it.

Right, but if it is the first thing they learn most will stick with it for the rest of their life. We should teach them the most efficient way first.

In my experience almost all of my colleagues over the past 5 years only new of :q, not ZQ.

Psh. Map ; to :, git gud.