Steve’s overriding mission was to the customer. He used his own taste as a proxy for customer goals.

Hi died relatively young and before the general tech backlash, which is why people look back at him fondly. Had he lived, he would've been taken down many notches. I mean, rich asshole who verbally abuses and berates his staff, upgrades his Benz every six months so he doesn't need a license plate like the plebs AND parks exclusively in the disabled spot? That was never gonna fly.