This is old news (the VIA OpenBook @ http://www.viaopenbook.com/), but it triggered some "new" questions in mind:

- how feasible is it for a public-private-partnership (PPP) to setup a fabrication/assembly plant using the reference designs?

- would the (eventual) cost be lower than off-the-shelf netbooks?

- is the boost to the local knowledge economy worth the risks involved?

- would anyone buy the units? Or are Kenyans too beholden to brand names (HP, Toshiba etc)?

- is this a camouflaged reinvention of the wheel?

- are there times when other factors justify reinventing portions of a wheel? What factors might those be?

If the ICT Board and the Government are serious about kickstarting local this and that, perhaps they should be asking themselves such questions. Or have they already?

It would be great if university courses modified the reference designs for a local context and published their results. Or at the very least modifying a simpler circuit board like the Arduino http://www.arduino.cc/ (Wired has a good article about it @ http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing).