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.
This attitude by the designers shows fundamental cluelessness.