Lots of people love beautiful things, but not many hate ugly things, or merely things that aren't quite beautiful, as much as Steve Jobs did. He was a great hater. That's an important element in having excellent taste: don't see the glass as half full. Jobs usually saw it as 110% empty.

In contrast, I don't have outstanding taste because I'm not a good hater. I see most glasses as part full. For example, I've always wanted to have outstanding taste in golf course architecture, but I like golf courses too much. I look at a mediocre golf course and say, "Hey, it's better than a strip mall!" Then, like most people, I tend to grow attached to the familiar and become accepting of its flaws. It's a more pleasant way to go through life, but the tradeoff is that you probably won't browbeat a giant staff into performing wonders.