Even browsing existing small to medium sized sites has become such a chore, with all these verifications and rate limiters as part of the anti AI scraper effort.

So many cloudflare verification checkboxes. So many Google sign ins. So many cross site cookies and tracking for even basic functionality.

Care about privacy and restrict browsing data even a little? Captcha hell.

Tbh it’s probably less of an Adobe problem and more due to the absolute mess that is PDF annotations.

Despite being a defined open standard, most free PDF viewers either don’t support them (zathura etc), or fuck them up (GNOME evince). Even some of the viewers that do support them like Okular need extra configuration.

Unironically Firefox as a PDF viewer actually has the best support for PDF annotations.

The state of PDF Readers on Linux - Discussion - It’s FOSS Community - https://itsfoss.community/t/the-state-of-pdf-readers-on-linux/12798

I owned a Remarkable and returned it because it is so frustrating.

Remarkable runs a scuffed version of Linux, which requires developers to release a separate version of whatever app they have. Although the selection is growing, it is paltry compared to offerings from a typical Android or iOS device.

Below is a list of so called “best” apps. No syncthing, no Obsidian, no Saber, etc. Multiple scuffed versions of Zotero that can’t do annotations.

https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable

Even for the few custom apps available, these are all uninstalled and reset with every OS update.

https://remarkable.guide/faqs.html#what-happens-to-third-party-software-when-i-update-or-downgrade-my-os

If you don’t want to use the few third party cloud sync options, then Remarkable charges money for cloud sync.

https://remarkable.com/shop/connect/pricing

Remarkable’s notes are also stored in a proprietary format that cannot be read by other applications. Attempts to reverse engineer it are jank af.

https://github.com/akeil/rmtool

It it works for you, great 👍. But I cannot whole heartedly recommend it. Even if you love eInk, just grab an Android based one like Boox.

Thumbs down for Remarkable. Dumb vendor lock-in with subscription fees and inability to easily transfer notes, no external app support, yet still retails close to iPad prices.

At that point, deploying locked down iPads is easier, cheaper, and offers more flexibility. Which is exactly what a lot of schools and universities already do.

Africa tech is just Chinese tech so they’re already cooked.

Australia basically banned encryption long ago and in doing killed off their tech industry.

We need a New Zealand tech revolution, which is where all the Australian IT firms relocated to following the encryption ban.

Encryption laws are hurting Australia’s tech sector, Atlassian says | Australian security and counter-terrorism | The Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/27/encryption-laws-are-hurting-australias-tech-sector-atlassian-says