Is it really that insane of itself? I don't see many people arguing that Valve is evil for requiring a Steam account to access their game library (ignoring the online activation/DRM question).
You don't need an account to browse the steam store, you need one to verify you're a user before downloading/installing a game, or (obviously) buying a game.
You don't need an account to browse the steam store, you need one to verify you're a user before downloading/installing a game, or (obviously) buying a game.