Product Update ✨

Hey Players! — Huge update: Playtext is now free! 

We created Playtext with the goal of helping people read more. The product used to be gated by a $120/year paywall, which didn't align with my ultimate goal. So, as of now, Playtext is totally free!

We streamlined the product and are laser-focused on articles. We removed PDF support and web publishing to concentrate on improving the article reading experience.

We also gave it a new coat of paint. We introduced a brand-new interface, and dark mode is available too!

You can listen to unlimited articles and effectively replace Pocket/Instapaper as your go-to read-it-later app.

I am looking forward to hearing what you think (:

Happy Reading!
– Phelipe, Founder of Playtext

Top Articles

A roundup of the week's most popular articles and essays from Playtext.

1. Make the Internet Fun Again (31 min)

The internet has transformed from a place of experimentation and creativity to a domain dominated by optimization, where content is tailored for algorithms rather than quality. This essay discusses the decline of genuine, innovative content and how this pattern is not new but part of a cycle observed in many industries.

2. The Right Kind of Stubborn (13 min)

This piece explores the difference between persistence and obstinacy. While both traits involve sticking with a task, persistence is characterized by a combination of energy, imagination, resilience, good judgment, and goal orientation. On the other hand, obstinacy is simply a stubborn refusal to change one's approach, often leading to failure.

3. "Authentic" is dead. And so is "is dead." (8 min)

Show, don't tell. Many common phrases and words in marketing have lost their meaning due to overuse. Phrases like "higher calling" and "the leading provider of" no longer impress or convey genuine value.

4. "I’m good, I promise": the Loneliness of the Low-Ranking Tennis Player (24 min)

A story of one player's journey through the demanding and often lonely world of professional tennis, from his early start as a child to competing in grueling, back-to-back tournaments around the globe.

5. Searching for Signal (15 min)

The story highlights the importance of emotional commitment and intuition in building a successful startup, emphasizing that the drive to create something new often outweighs the challenges faced along the way.

Notes

• Interested in sponsoring this newsletter? Get in touch here.

• Love reading? Playtext turns any text into an audiobook. Upload unlimited books, PDFs, and articles, listen on the go, and read 2x faster!

• More books? Playtext Books has over 100 summaries on business, science, and productivity.