This phrase, famously attributed to Pablo Picasso but often borrowed by figures like Steve Jobs, underlines an important truth about how progress is made in creative and competitive industries: sometimes, it's not about inventing from scratch but about improving on the ideas of others.
In the tech industry, copying and stealing—at least in a metaphorical sense—have led to some of the greatest advances of the digital age.
When Steve Jobs took inspiration from Xerox’s technology, or when Bill Gates repurposed elements of Digital Research's operating system, they weren’t merely copying. They were taking what already existed and turning it into something better, more user-friendly, and revolutionary.
Let’s dive into these historical moments and understand why borrowing from others’ ideas often makes for greatness in innovation.
The Xerox PARC Visit: The Birth of the Graphical User Interface
In December 1979, Steve Jobs visited Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), a place known for developing cutting-edge technology that would change the future of computing. During this visit, Jobs encountered the graphical user interface (GUI), a concept so far ahead of its time that it seemed almost otherworldly.
The researchers at PARC had developed a computer interface that could display icons and windows, allowing users to navigate and interact with their machines in ways that were light years ahead of text-based commands.
The irony is that despite their brilliance, Xerox's management didn’t fully recognise the commercial potential of what they had developed. To them, it was a curious experiment that might never see widespread adoption. Jobs, however, saw it differently.
When Steve Jobs "borrowed" this idea, many accused him of simply copying Xerox. Yet, what Apple did was far more than that. Jobs and his team at Apple reimagined and refined Xerox’s clunky prototype, making it intuitive, beautiful, and, most importantly, marketable.
By 1984, this vision materialised in the form of the Apple Macintosh—the first successful personal computer to use a graphical interface, forever changing the landscape of computing.
To some, this may have looked like simple copying. In reality, Jobs took Xerox’s innovative technology and turned it into a user-friendly revolution. He recognised the potential of the GUI and transformed it from an obscure research project into something that everyday people could use in their homes and offices.
This wasn’t theft in a malicious sense—it was seizing an opportunity that Xerox had failed to capitalize on.
Bill Gates and Digital Research: The Story Behind MS-DOS
While Jobs was busy refining Xerox’s ideas into Apple’s products, Bill Gates was orchestrating his own brand of genius.
His story revolves around MS-DOS, the operating system that became the foundation of Microsoft’s dominance.
However, the roots of MS-DOS trace back to Digital Research, a company led by Gary Kildall that had developed CP/M (Control Program for Microcomputers), a popular operating system in the late 1970s.
In 1980, IBM approached both Digital Research and Microsoft in search of an operating system for their upcoming personal computers. Kildall’s team hesitated during negotiations with IBM, giving Gates an opening.
Microsoft didn’t have an operating system of its own, but Gates quickly seized the opportunity and secured the deal by licensing a CP/M clone from a small company called Seattle Computer Products. This clone was known as 86-DOS.
Microsoft acquired the rights to 86-DOS, modified it, and rebranded it as MS-DOS. Gates and his team didn’t just copy CP/M—they optimised and re-engineered it, eventually making MS-DOS the de facto operating system for IBM PCs and its clones. As Microsoft grew in prominence, so did MS-DOS, becoming the backbone of personal computing for decades.
Just as with Jobs and Xerox, Bill Gates didn’t simply copy Digital Research’s technology; he saw potential where others didn’t and moved quickly to secure it. By refining and commercialising what was available, he built one of the largest and most influential companies in the world.
Innovation Through Iteration: The Power of Building on Existing Ideas
The stories of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are just two examples of how the concept of "stealing" in the tech world can be a force for good. Of course, we’re not talking about literal theft, but rather taking inspiration from existing ideas and improving upon them. What these pioneers did was to recognise genius in someone else’s work and build upon it in ways that had never been done before.
This process of innovation through iteration is a common thread in the tech world. Even today, tech giants like Google, Facebook, and Amazon frequently "borrow" ideas from smaller companies or other industries and make them their own. Often, it’s not about who thought of the idea first but about who executed it better.
Take, for example, Facebook’s imitation of Snapchat's Stories feature. Snapchat popularized the concept of ephemeral, 24-hour posts, but it was Facebook, through Instagram, that took the idea and brought it to a wider audience.
Today, Instagram Stories is used by millions, while Snapchat, though still popular, has been overshadowed by its larger competitors.
Once again, we see the principle in action: good artists copy, but great artists steal—and then scale.
The Ethics of Copying and Stealing in the Tech World
Of course, these kinds of "thefts" raise important ethical questions. When does borrowing from another’s work cross the line into outright theft? And how can companies ensure that their innovations respect the intellectual property of others?
In the case of Jobs and Gates, both Xerox and Digital Research could have taken legal action. Yet, the reality was more complicated. Xerox was compensated with Apple stock in return for allowing Jobs to tour PARC, and Digital Research’s CP/M was not directly copied in a way that infringed any copyrights.
While intellectual property laws exist to protect innovators, the tech industry often operates in a grey area where inspiration and imitation are part of the natural creative process. As long as companies add their own value, refine ideas, and make them more accessible or efficient, they’re generally seen as contributing to progress rather than simply copying others.
In the end, it’s not the copying that matters—it’s what you do with the idea. Jobs and Gates didn’t just mimic Xerox and Digital Research; they built entire industries by taking those ideas and running with them. And in doing so, they transformed the world.
Lessons for Today’s Innovators: Copying Isn’t Cheating
For modern-day innovators, the lesson is clear: don’t be afraid to borrow ideas, but make sure you do so with a purpose. The great artists of technology don’t just copy—they steal ideas in the best sense, turning them into something new and valuable. They find the genius in what others have done and amplify it.
If we look at the broader landscape of innovation, we see that much of what we consider groundbreaking today was built on the foundation of existing ideas.
The smartphone, for example, wasn’t invented by Apple, but the iPhone took existing technology and revolutionized it through design and functionality. Likewise, the internet as we know it is the result of countless contributions from different scientists and engineers over decades, each building on the work of others.
Copying without thought might make you a good artist, but stealing with purpose—that’s what makes you great.
So the next time you find yourself inspired by someone else’s work, don’t shy away from it. Instead, ask yourself how you can make it better, how you can take that spark of genius and turn it into something even more impactful.
As history has shown us, the difference between good and great often lies in how boldly you are willing to build on the ideas of others.