It’s the 1940s again: IBM’s Scott Crowder on the infancy of quantum computers

yahoo.com ^ | 3/13/2017 | Brad Jones

[ckilmer]

IBM Q isn’t vaporware. It’s a project years-in-the-making that could help quantum computation reach its massive potential. The future of quantum computers may arrive sooner than you think. When news arrived of IBM’s move to offer the first commercially available universal quantum computer last week, it was characterized as a “handoff” from IBM Research to IBM Systems. According to the company’s CTO and vice president of quantum computing, technical strategy, and systems, Scott Crowder, that’s not entirely the case.

“It’s not quite a ‘handoff,’ it’s really a partnership,” explained Crowder. “This is definitely a transition point from it being pure science, pure research, to also being engineering, and development, and commercialization.”

[ckilmer]

I've read a number of silicon valley tech type articles that say quantum computers will go mainstream much sooner than people expect--like within a year or two of 2020--and not a decade or more from now.

[proust]

I’d imagine it is sooner that 10 years, but It’s not going to be in consumer hands anytime soon with its massive decryption powers.

[zeestephen]

Ping

[monkeyshine]

Singularity here we come! :-)

[Thibodeaux]

-—But to the average technologist, even, it’s really confusing.-——

Then there those of us that can’t even speak enough of the language to know what Quantum Computing actually is. The article gives no clue

[ckilmer]

totally agree. consumer quantum computers are many decades off.

[myheroesareDeadandRegistered]

...and it decided our fate in a micro-second.

:)

[proust]

hope this helps..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhHMJCUmq28

[ckilmer]

All you need to know is that that they are orders of magnitude faster than current computers.

Google’s Quantum Computer Is 100 Million Times Faster Than Your Laptop
http://www.sciencealert.com/google-s-quantum-computer-is-100-million-times-faster-than-your-laptop

[fuzzylogic]

I’ll just say that I get exposed to a lot of tech that isn’t yet available. I work with a lot of customers on things that are not yet available. All the discussions, product road maps, etc., have nothing that includes anything related to quantum computing. Zero.

Being able to show something is a long way from production. I believe the first applications will be in networking, being able to detect that something was observed during transmission.

In more general applications I’d be shocked to see anything sooner than 2025.

[Red Badger]

In a nutshell, what is the big difference between ‘quantum’ computing and what we have now?.........................

[heterosupremacist]

I didn’t find it when I searched, but somebody posted a thread on FR a few days ago explaining how research scientists had discovered a way to store Eleventeen Gazillion Tetra/GooGoobytes inside a single atom...

8() HA!

[ckilmer]

Interestinly Elon Musk has formed a venture to stop the singularity.

Elon Musk and partners form nonprofit to stop AI from ruining the world

http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/11/9910742/elon-musk-openai-sam-altman-y-combinator-machine-learning
............
Having said that, I think that quantum computers will make possible interstellar travel in a shorter time period than people currently imagine. that is, not a century or two off but rather decades off beginning with major breakthroughs in the time of the singularity. or about 2040

[occamrzr06]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qubit

[discostu]

Quantum computing has been right around the corner for 20 years. I mean eventually it will be, but don’t hold your breath.

[ScaniaBoy]

Massive decryption powers but also the ability to perform quantum cryptographic tasks which will make it impossible to eavesdrop on encrypted communication without leaving a trace.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Google’s Quantum Computer Is 100 Million Times Faster Than Your Laptop

Microsoft can still manage to write a version of Excel that will bring it to its knees. :)

[Telepathic Intruder]

Which just means operating systems will take up 100 million times more computing cycles.

[bar sin·is·ter]

[ckilmer]

I could give you the answer but I’ll have no idea what it was that I just said.
////////////
so here is a google search for “what is the difference between quantum computing and conventional computing”
http://bit.ly/2nxxrKr

here is a google search for “classical computer vs quantum computer
http://bit.ly/2n2vlpw

All you really need to know is that quantum computers are millions of times faster than laptops.

and at least 1000’s of times faster than current super computers.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/12042781/Google-D-Wave-quantum-computer-is-100-million-times-faster-than-your-PC.html