Owen Williams

re:Charged - Skip the clickbait with daily technology briefings

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.

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Sara Yin
Congrats Owen! Big fan of your work. 🙌
Owen Williams
@sarapyin Too kind Sara, really appreciate that! :)
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
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.
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.
Abiodun
The weekly newsletter is something I always look upto. Goodluck on the launch.