The truth about where 11 tech breakthroughs really came from

Getty Images/Justin Sullivan

It's like the famous quote mistakenly attributed to Pablo Picasso: Good artists copy; great artists steal.

There's something to be said for being the first one to the market.

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But the history of tech is riddled with cases where a company just straight up takes an old idea, perfects it, and ends up as a runaway success.

(Spoilers: Apple shows up a lot.)