Exactly. Every time I've seen someone attempt to 'steal' an idea, they aren't up to the challenge of executing on it. I believe the reason for this is that there a very strong correlation between the type of personality that would consider stealing someone else's idea and then not wanting to put in the hard work of making it a reality.
That's not to say that it doesn't happen. I myself have seen someone do something I've admired and then incorporated that practice into my own procedures. That's not outright theft of an idea, but it's fairly close. Of course if this type of thing didn't occur then civilization would stop advancing.
As I understand it, techcrunch was designing a tablet in partnership with a design firm. The firm ripped off the design and created a competing tablet.
It was called the joojoo but they didn't get it out until ariund when the iPad was released and it couldn't compete at all.
That's not to say that it doesn't happen. I myself have seen someone do something I've admired and then incorporated that practice into my own procedures. That's not outright theft of an idea, but it's fairly close. Of course if this type of thing didn't occur then civilization would stop advancing.
A good case in point might be the cruchpad (http://techcrunch.com/2009/11/30/crunchpad-end/). Of course that went beyond theft of just an idea, but the principal still holds.