This is odd acording to the Sheldon Brown website the 8 sp S&A hub has a 28% change between 1st/2nd and 7/8th gear, the others are all around 13%. www,sheldonbrown.com
Maybe there was something amiss with your hub.I agree you don't need that many steps,as long as the total range is adequate,they were prob. trying to compete with 7 speed derailer hubs.
The 4 speed Shimano Nexus hub had around a 2.5 ratio which is plenty.I don't know if you can service them without special tools,The 8 speeds,forget it.The old 3 speed Shimano hubs were not all that hard to work on,I recall.I liked their construction better than the S&A 3 speeds (no failure prone little chain coming out of it, but a sturdy bellcrank actuator.