https://www.pine64.org/pinenote/
https://www.pine64.org/2021/08/15/introducing-the-pinenote/
I purchased the original B&N Nook (e-ink) and later one with the front-lit screen. The low price and ability to side-load epubs were the deciding factors, along with there being no freedom respecting alternative. But, later discovered that Nook too phones home with all your reading habits including side loaded content. I rooted both of them (the Nook runs Android), and installed a firewall to block all comm with B&N, and just side-load everything. Acceptable hardware, but the software on the newer models is a dumpster fire (crashes unless you restart device after every few hundred pages read, loses track of what page you were on, have to navigate more screens to do most common tasks, terrible to navigate to book if more than a few loaded onto the device, etc.)-- the original version's software was better in all respects, but still lacking for managing more than a few titles loaded onto the device at once.
(edited to make links clickable)
This attitude by the designers shows fundamental cluelessness.
They just began offering a more commercial (supported) experience on some devices if you pay a little more. But, historically, if you purchased a Pine64 device there was no expectation of support beyond a 15 day hardware warranty.
They also want to emphasize the difference between the part of the org that sells stuff, and the main org. All commerce takes place on pine64.com. Everything else (forums, wiki, etc.) is on pine64.org.
Basically freedom loving hobbyists building stuff and getting it into the hands of other freedom loving hobbyists. And, if it weren't for that second part, none of their devices would be usable. They rely on the community to develop the software for their devices.
Not for everyone. But, a worthwhile trade off for some of us.
Commercial products leave out the SD card 1) to encourage you to pay for their own services for purchases, rather than plopping some videos/mp3s/ebooks on a SD card, and 2) so they can price discriminate by offering less storage on some models. Pine64 doesn't have that excuse.
Lots of hackers all around the world don't make anywhere near the incomes of e.g., SV developers. So, this is more, "Lets keep the price down to make the community as large and inclusive as we can." The projected price point of the e-reader is, unfortunately, already too high for many.
I personally don't want a list of all the "subversive literature" I read nicely compiled for corporations and government to exploit, fuck that 100x.
Are you "paranoid about catching gonorrhea" if you decide to wear a condom? :-)
You don't even need a threat to desire privacy. It's a human right.
> I personally don't want a list of all the "subversive literature" I read nicely compiled for corporations and government to exploit
> subversive literature
Many books I read were on a list (as in, jail for possession) less than 40 years ago where I live.
> nicely compiled for corporations
It's literally the explicit purpose of collecting this data.
> and government
Yes, there's no way a government could ever exploit detailed data about their citizen's behaviour, inclinations, political opinions, etc.
Not wanting your literature choices under surveillance is a common type of privacy that many people, myself included, desire.
The library knows which books you checked out, and the book store knows which books you've bought. Is this really that much different?
(1) Never connect the device to the Internet. There's really no reason to.
(2) Use KFX Output in Calibre, blocking access to the Amazon servers. This is a bit of a hassle but it is doable. Especially since books take hours to read, so you're really only doing the work for a few minutes to get hours of spy-free enjoyment.
It works great for my purposes.
That alone is sufficient reason never to use one.