Charged
p/charged
Tech's best kept secret
Owen Williams
re:Charged — Skip the clickbait with daily technology briefings
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re:Charged is a better way to get tech news without algorithms, RSS feeds, advertising or clickbait. Join the slow web revolution and get the best briefing about what's new in technology every morning delivered right to your inbox. Join our community of smart people from across the industry having nuanced discussions.

Replies
Thomas

I've been a subscriber to the re:Charged newsletter since day one and it has genuinely stopped me from visiting any tech-related websites. I don't have to worry about missing anything and if I don't feel like catching up I can always just delete the email anyway.

Owens commentary on the news always feels on point and puts thing in another interesting perspective. ❤️

Pros:

Very well focused, high quality content

Cons:

The community is still a bit new, hope that grows quickly. :)

Sam Sabri
This is gonna be great! Good luck!
Ian Mikutel
@ow Love the idea but help me understand the value above Techmeme, which is free, gives you the power of both algorithms & human editing love, and is scannable in about 10 seconds to get headlines & wide range of perspectives via related tweets and multiple outlet headlines/links? You said earlier you’re differentiating from Stratechery by being a shorter read, so it seems Gabe & Techmeme is more your competition, yes?
Owen Williams
@ianmikutel Hey! Think of it as in the middle. Techmeme is a great way to drink from the firehose but it doesn't tell you anything except a bunch of links. I take something like Techmeme, distill it down into the 4-6 links that matter and tell you _why_ if that makes sense. Techmeme is something most people don't have time to parse, I think, even if it's an incredible resource I also read regularly.
Jake Cohn
Love the weekly :)
Owen Williams
@leftearpod yay! Thanks John, super appreciate it <3
Justin Watt

I've been a part of Owen's beta over the last few months for re:Charged and I'm a big fan. It's timely, interesting, and relevant content. It's like he knows about the stories that matters to me and cuts through the BS to deliver the relevant parts.

Pros:

Timely, distilled, and interesting news with solid takes on them.

Cons:

There were mobile formatting issues but those are now resolved

John O'Nolan
It has been wonderful to watch this be built so far, and can't wait to see what's next. Big congrats on shipping and launching!
Owen Williams
@johnonolan We did it and I'll still try Ghost soon ;) <3 <3
Joey

I've been a subscriber since the beginning and out of all the newsletter I receive, including the many I accidentally subscribe to, this is one of the only ones I look forward to and mention to friends and colleagues. It keeps you up to date, without having to filter through all the tech news sites there are nowadays.

Pros:

Great content and the only newsletter I actively read and look forward to. Rarely mentions something I'm already aware of.

Cons:

None so far

John Collins

Email newsletters really are enjoying a resurgance and re:Charged is definitely one of the ones I open every day.

Pros:

Fresh take on the tech news, rarely covers things I already know

Cons:

None so far

Andreas Fruth

Been here since Beta and loved every moment of it. @ow does an amazing job, you can see it's more than a business for him.

Pros:

Compressed and to the point

Cons:

I kind of want more :)

Owen Williams
I have ideas for more soon and am working on this! Thank you so much <3
Sara Yin
Top Product
Congrats Owen! Big fan of your work. 🙌
Owen Williams
@sarapyin Too kind Sara, really appreciate that! :)
Pedro Marques

I'm part of the re:Charged community before it was cool and tbh it has been always cool.

The content itself is great, it bleeds @ow's personality which is great! I've been a a fan of the podcast for a while and to get that in a daily basis is fantastic.

Saves me a LOT OF TIME and protects me from autoplaying videos.

Pros:

Great and insightful content - No bs and straight to the point.

Cons:

It cover the highlights of the day, so if some shit goes down during the day you'll only get a digest the next day, I want moar.

Nicolas Le Roux
Awesome project. I would love to see it sent on Facebook Messenger as well. You can do it really easily with https://www.botletter.com Please contact me if you want to know more ;)
Owen Williams
@nico_lrx this is something I'm actively working on. I love the idea but I'm halfway there with an integration. Sell me on it? ;)
Nicolas Le Roux
@ow Well, with Botletter you can start sending your newsletter after a dead-simple configuration. You only need a page, configure your opt-in messages and you are ready to go. Also, we provide detailed analytics for your newsletters: open-rate, click-rate and the detail for each subscriber. We created an interface so that sending your newsletter is quick and easy to do. Moreover, I can send you a special code to add the Facebook checkbox plugin to your sign up form. Doing so, people will be subscribed without any hassle. If you are interested to discuss this further, you can contact me at nicolas@botletter.com Looking forward to it! ;)
Steve Luvender
I’ve been part of the beta for a little while, and I love what Owen’s doing. The quality, relevance, and frequency of his reporting is really great — plus, the community is a nice bonus. I can tell Owen took a lot of time in building something special, and it’s refreshing to consume tech news without ads, feeling guilty about blocking ads, or click-grabbing non-stories. This is what tech news should be.
Aleksandra
I joined re:Charged recently but already getting a lot of value from the daily newsletter. Owen covers all the most important things happening in tech and brings some personal voice. And re:Charged is not just another newsletter about tech, it is also an amazing community! It really makes a lot of difference. One of the very few Slack communities that I check out daily 😀 (and that says a lot!) @ow Exciting to see how Charged is growing and curious about what is coming next.
Owen Williams
@aleks_muse I think you were the last one in the door before we went public! Thanks so much for your support, it's hugely appreciated :)
Aleksandra
@ow yep, I joined re:Charged recently, but have been a loyal Charged subscriber/listener/member for the last year.So it is a nice next step! 😅
Adam Haworth

I've been using re:Charged since day 1 of the earliest alpha. It's changed the way I approach news - I have learnt to rely on Owen's daily emails to keep myself updated on the tech world. Even if I'm already aware of a news story, what's great is that the daily email is still worth reading.

The community is young but ties the whole thing together. In the time that it's been around, I've already found my own views challenged. It's a lovely, slow-web way to remove yourself slightly from whatever bubble you find yourself in.

It's worth paying for. Stop wasting time trying to play catch up. Rely on re:Charged.

Pros:

You can forget about trying to chase the news and know that the most important stuff will be in your inbox in the morning.

Cons:

Not sure there's anything as yet.

Michel
Sounds great. I used to be subscribed to your free newsletter. Nowadays, I am subscribed to Ben Thompson's ( https://stratechery.com/) newsletter and I really enjoy it. @Owen: How is your newsletter different than Ben's? Not saying it is not a good idea that you are doing it - just wondering :)
Owen Williams
@owen @mictuc Hey Michel! This is a great question -- Ben Thompson / Stratechery was definitely an inspiration, and he's carved out one hell of a niche I could never live up to. I love and subscribe to Stratechery, but felt there was a gap in the middle where something that didn't require reading 2000+ words in the morning could live, that was more general across the industry. My interests lie broadly across developer trends, consumer ones, servers, hardware, you name it -- and I wanted to make something that encapsulates the industry, breaking down topics but also feeling like a great TL;DR every day. Ironically, Ben was perhaps validation more than anything else -- I've heard his newsletter is huge, and his churn is low, so I'm psyched that there really could be a sweet spot here. Ben is a legend, and while I wish I could write like him, mine has a different tact (and more software integration, since I own the platform and developed them myself so you get single sign-on and such!). Plus, we'll do other delivery like Messenger etc very soon.
Michel
@owen @ow Thanks for your thorough reply. I think that makes sense and I wish you all the best with your endeavour!
Anthony Painter
Is there any way to have a trial first? I'm not a fan of paying before I have trialled at least. Thank you - perhaps access to a week of archive content?
Owen Williams
@a12rj Hey! Thanks for the question - it was a very conscious choice to avoid offering trial memberships for a few reasons. First, because I suspect the kind of people that won't 'just sign up' at the $8 price point are not the kind of people I want to attract, and second, because it takes time and energy to service trial users that I don't have at this point. To this end, I've made it clear in my marketing, FAQ and other places that if you're unhappy I'll refund no questions asked at any point, but I'm a strong believer in both parties having 'skin in the game' per say. I may open trials up later, but only once I know the business model works (or not). FWIW, Stratechery also doesn't offer a free trial. More on this: https://blog.kissmetrics.com/fre...
Anthony Painter
@ow thanks for the reply Owen. Yes I'm a member of Stratechery. I was referred in through the free weekly update, then happily signed up.
Owen Williams
@a12rj I have the same thing, in that way! There's a free weekly newsletter that will continue on for a long time: https://char.gd/subscribe
Edwin Arbus

Pros:

Insightful and concise.

Cons: