Steal, Don’t Imitate

As the poet, T.S. Elliot once said, “Immature poets imitate, mature poets steal.” Companies that simply imitate other products constantly find themselves two steps behind their competitors. Conversely, stealing an idea requires piecing together different elements, essentially creating something new. This may seem like a controversial idea, but consider Steve Jobs’ first computer, the nearly portable “Apple II.”  Jobs’ machine was the first of the Apple series and used a simple green monitor screen. When he toured the Xerox headquarters, however, he took notice of their Graphical User Interface technology. He returned to his garage and revamped his computer screen using GUI mechanics. In this sense, Jobs saw an opportunity to selectively take an old idea and create a new product altogether. 

What are you going to steal?

Comments

[Ross]

hey John - check out Faris Yakob's Blog - Talent Imitates, Genius Steals - its the dog's bollocks.

Happy 09 by the way!
Ross