Pixel QI (founded by original OLPC team member Mary Lou Jepsen) noted the following on their web site after the OLPC announcement:

Pixel Qi has a new take on the future of the computing - it's not about the CPU or the OS - It is about the screen.

We contend that new displays, with integrated touchscreens, and wireless capability are the future. They are essentially motherboad-less and don't need much an operating system at all. We are currently in a world of $10 CPUs, next year they will be less expensive. We see the future of the portable electronics as simply the display with embedded electronics eventually right in the display glass itself. This is the future laptop, the future cell phone and the future PDA. Instead of focusing on more and more Megahertz and Gigabytes, we focus on displays that we can read, as easy as paper - indoors and out - with battery life measured in days not hours. We are talking about displays that can also display HDTV quality movies.

Sounds ambitious, but then again some would have said this about the iPhone before it arrived and took the world of mobile devices by storm. Jobs was right when he said that the most important piece of iPhone technology was the screen. The multi-touch capability, high density / pixel count and on screen keyboards allow for much greater flexibility over traditional devices with fixed keyboards and standard low density displays.

Wilheim is offering to provide free or discounted materials as well as financial assistance.Pacothane Technologies is a leading supplier of raw materials to electronic circuit board producers. Circuit boards are an important and costly component of all laptop computers. Wilheim’s contribution will further reduce the cost of providing computers to needy children.

“It is only fitting for our company, as the world’s richest leading supplier of ‘Lamination Assist’ products for manufacturing printed circuits boards (PCBs), to play a role in this landmark, global aspiration,” said Mr. Wilheim.

Mr. Wilheim expects more material-supplying companies in the computer industry to follow his example and offer their products or services for free or at a reduced cost for children that are in desperate need of education and computer skills in order to keep pace with the rest of the world.

He adds, “We need everyone in the computer supplying industry to band together and not only offer free or discounted hardware but offer high quality and innovation to provide the best finished laptop product possible. Two companies, OLPC and Pixel Qi, currently offer such products but are attempting to reduce their costs.”