Hehe, yes!

I think the quality of sawn timber would make an entire blog post if examined in detail =)

What meets the eye first is the size and shape of sawn timber - are the measures exactly what they are supposed to be? Is the timber straight or does it make that helicopter-blade shape? For example, I've heard that for making weight-supporting structures they sell basic stuff like two-by-four and two-by-five, with three sides planed, so that the measurements are exactly sharp.

Well, but then there is also the inner structure of the timber. Does it have branch knots? Sap chambers? Is the timber grain structure tight and solid, or foamy and fragile? And in arctic climate it makes a difference if the tree was felled in summer or in winter. Winter-felled trees have less sugars and liquids inside, as the tree was in 'hibernation' -mode, which means that the resulting timber will dry better and is less prone to damage from rot and fungi.

Also, one needs different qualities if one is making a musical instrument, a piece of furniture, or a house. In the old times people could start from a forest, hand-picking the exact trees which would produce the quality of timber they'd need for this or that project. And before industrialized forestry, trees often grew slower, which means that the inner structure was tight and solid. Nowadays as they aim to fast-grow trees, it means that we get a lot of sawn timber with less tight inner structure; the outer dimensions might be exactly what needed, but the inner quality is lower...

Hehe, well, but yes - it would take a powerful circle saw to make sharply cut modern-shaped boards. I think in the old times, if they needed more exact shapes, they worked the split boards planing them to desired shape. But if I'm going to build a roof for a shelter, I don't care if the boards have a somewhat irregular outer appearance, as long as their inner structure is tight enough to make them endure the weather =)