Decoder with Nilay Patel

Recode Decode: John Hennessy and Dave Patterson, winners, 2017 Turing Award

Alphabet chairman John Hennessy and Google distinguished engineer Dave Patterson talk with Recode’s Kara Swisher about winning the 2017 Turing Award, a prestigious achievement in computer science. In the 1980s, Hennessy and Patterson developed a revolutionary new type of computer processor called RISC, which allowed computers to run faster and more efficiently — a breakthrough that became especially important in the era of mobile devices and the internet of things. They talk about the intense pushback they received from the computing industry at the time and why we're now in a "new golden age of computer architecture," filled with difficult problems that businesses have thus far been unable to crack. The upshot: Another RISC-like revolution needs to happen.
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Decoder is a show from The Verge about big ideas — and other problems. Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks to a diverse cast of innovators and policymakers at the frontiers of business and technology to reveal how they’re navigating an ever-changing landscape, what keeps them up at night, and what it all means for our shared future.