IBM does netbooks + cloud for developing nations:
Africa Embraces Linux, Cloud through IBM Client for Smart Work
Organizations of all types from business, government, and academic to philanthropic across the emerging markets of Africa are rapidly adopting Linux and cloud computing services just one month after a package, the IBM Client for Smart Work (www.ibm.com/lotus/openclient), was launched in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.
The IBM Client for Smart Work, the first cloud and Linux-based software package offered by IBM and Canonical, can be installed on netbooks and other thin client devices or even existing personal computers, eliminating the need for new hardware. By comparison, it could cost companies up to $2,000 per seat to migrate using other proprietary software, according to some market estimates, much of it in higher hardware requirements.
“The ability to make personal computing lightweight, inexpensive and flexible on an open base is a key to bypassing the proprietary legacies of established markets and to bridging the digital divide in Africa,” said IBM sub- Saharan CTO, Clifford Foster. “All types of organizations, whether business, government, academic or philanthropic, are adopting this new computing model,” he adds.
http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/28759.wss
See also some earlier analysis
http://appfrica.net/blog/2009/09/24/netbooks-for-africa-ibm-and-canonical-team-up/
