Plastic Logic, a British company founded in 2000, is the first organization in the world to develop a working prototype of a plastic microchip. This project is very important for the future of the electronics and the computer industry. It is a not a coincidence, therefore, that all the major manufacturers in the world are investing heavily into similar technologies, including Lucent Technologies, Hitachi, Philips, Samsung and Au Optronics.

The plastic microchip will revolutionize our economy because it will present much lower production costs. The result would probably be a huge decline in the prices of personal computers, television sets, mobile phones and many other electronic devices. The second revolution will appear when such plastic microchips will start being inserted into non traditional materials such as food and clothing.

The achievement of Plastic Logic was noticed around the world, it received in fact an investment of $100 million to create a manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany. The plant should be operational by 2008.

One of the investors in the company commented for the Financial Times: “We hope to make it as easy to carry around large amounts of written information using devices based on our technology as it is now to have easy access to large amounts of music using an iPod or MP3 player, (…) Plastic electronics could lead to a fundamental revolution in the way the electronics industry evolves.”

Can you imagine in the future when you will buy a certain food on the supermarket and the food itself will talk to your oven giving instructions on the best way it can be cooked?

Reference: La Repplubica (Italian) and Financial Times