I take it as saying something like "why does it have to be Google that does this; someone should have done this a long time ago", maybe.

Google starts a lot of cool projects, it'd be neat to see other companies taking the same initiative in certain areas (I'm sure there are, I just am not well versed in that area).

I don't know of any other companies who control as many display ads on the web, which can be replaced by a "thank you for donating."

There already are other similar services, like Flattr, but it becomes hard to ensure that you get a steady revenue stream by serving ads to some people and getting donations from others, and being able to turn off the ads for those people who donate.