Mood Bored

His design decisions, Mr. Jobs explained, were shaped by his understanding of both technology and popular culture. His own study and intuition, not focus groups, were his guide. When a reporter asked what market research went into the iPad, Mr. Jobs replied: ‘None. It’s not the consumers’ job to know what they want.’

The notion of ‘taste’ — he uses the word frequently — looms large in Mr. Jobs’s business philosophy. His has been honed by a breadth of experience and by the popular culture of his time.

Great products, Mr. Jobs once explained, were a triumph of taste, of ‘trying to expose yourself to the best things humans have done and then trying to bring those things into what you are doing.’