computer science

Recode

Recode is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Recode rather than just read about it. In short: Recode (stylized as recode; formerly Re/code) was a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously co-founded, All Things Digital.

Key takeaways

Recode belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Recode to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Recode from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Recode (stylized as recode; formerly Re/code) was a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously co-founded, All Things Digital. Vox Media acquired Recode in May 2015 and, in May 2019, the Recode website was integrated into Vox. On March 6, 2023, Vox media announced that in order to make the various Vox sub brands less confusing to its readers, it was retiring the Recode brand but would continue its mission to explain complex issues around technology to its readers under the unified Vox brand.

History

In September 2013, technology journalists Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher left All Things Digital, the technology news site they had founded and developed for Dow Jones and News Corp. Mossberg left The Wall Street Journal at the end of the year, leaving behind a popular, weekly technology column. The two launched their new, independent technology news website, Recode, on January 2, 2014. Its holding company, Revere Digital, received minority investments from NBCUniversal and Terry Semel's Windsor Media. The total investment was estimated between US$10 and 15 million. Mossberg and Swisher held the company's majority stake and noted its comfortable financial stance. Recode also provided breaking technology coverage for NBCUniversal, and received video resources and exposure in return via a formal partnership. Mossberg saw the investment as an opportunity to implement new ways of covering the technology field, and planned to add six employees on technology policy and mobile beats. The CNBC partnership also explored new advertising efforts and shared office space. At launch, the 23-person team included all former members of All Things Digital. The staff also received equity in the company. Mossberg and Swisher planned to continue their prominent, annual All Things Digital conference, which they renamed the "Code" conference and scheduled for the same time and location: late May at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Recode also kept plans to continue their separate mobile and media conferences. CNBC became a partner in these conferences. A part-time team of 12 employees runs the conferences. The site developed a reputation for breaking tech industry news but ultimately did not reach the level of popularity it expected, with just 1.5 million regular monthly visitors. Vox Media acquired the website in May 2015 in a move that The New York Times described as a reflection of tumult in online technology journalism. Vox purchased all of the company's stock, but the details of the transaction were not released. At the time of the acquisition, Recode had 44 employees and three additional employees by contract. They were expected to join Vox. Mossberg and Swisher planned to stay with the website. The two were impressed with Vox Media's audience reach. Vox's technology news website, The Verge, had eight times the traffic, in comparison. The scopes of the two sites were not expected to overlap with Recode's emphasis on technology industry business and The Verge's on "being a new kind of culture publication". An internal study found a three percent overlap in content between the two sites. Recode started publishing a podcast in July 2015 called Recode Decode. The podcast won "Tech Podcast of the Year" as well as "Podcast of the Year" at the 2019 Adweek Podcast Awards. On May 8, 2016, Recode relaunched with a new design under editor-in-chief Dan Frommer. In May 2019, Recode was integrated into Vox Media's flagship website, Vox, becoming the column Recode by Vox.

Content As continued from All Things Digital, Recode focuses on technology and digital media news, particularly pertaining to the business of Silicon Valley. The site also reviews new enterprises, and consumer hardware and software, and conducts original reports.

References

External links

Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Recode

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Recode claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Recode before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Recode ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Recode

In research: Recode appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Recode in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Recode is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2014 establishments in California, 2023 disestablishments in California, American technology news websites, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Recode outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Recode in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Recode means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Recode out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Recode in simple terms?

Why does Recode matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Recode?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Recode.