I first encountered the idea of "renting" software on a per use or per keystroke basis when I worked for Microsoft in the early and mid 1990s. Bill Gates and Steve Balmer were faced with almost total market saturation for Windows and Office, leaving them with a market they totally dominated and not enough new customers coming on line to continue the continually expanding income stream they had become accustomed to. Their proposal was to rent applications to businesses and users on a per month, per hour, or even per keystroke basis. In exchange the software would be continually updated, upgraded, and maintained by Microsoft.
At the time Microsoft believed the internet was a toy of universities and the Department of Defense and would never be mainstream, so implementation of the scheme would have essentially required business, universities, and individuals turning all control of the software and OS servers over to Microsoft — at a healthy fee. The proposal failed because Microsofts's primary customer base — business and industry — balked. Business did not want it for many and to my mind obvious reasons including the networking technology of the time. I believe they envisioned encompassing government computing in this scheme if for no other reason tan to make anti-trust actions too counter-productive for congress to complain.
So don't lay this at Steve Jobs feet. Place it firmly at the foot of Microsoft's throne.
