Quantum computer in you backyard Dave - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: kennybUSA
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: March 25, 2016, 11:58:04 pm
content: HI EveryoneI found this on the "Tube"https://youtu.be/sZ4Aeeo11BkMaybe Dave can play nice with someone and get a tour for us. Truly exciting technology!

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 02:47:57 am
content: ... and that was a year and a half ago.* Wonders how things have progressed since then *

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 02:53:09 am
content: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601099/the-long-awaited-promise-of-a-programmable-quantum-computer/http://phys.org/news/2016-03-physicists-quantum-fredkin-gate.html

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 01:45:51 pm
content: Sounds fascinating. I wish I understood what was going on and why it is better than traditional semiconductor computing. I'll have to find a good primer for beginners.EDIT: watched some of the video above, answered a few questions but seems like we are still very far away from any general purpose computing device.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 03:28:06 pm
content: Quote from: edy on March 26, 2016, 01:45:51 pmMy personal opinion is you'll never see a quantum computer as a general purpose computer, at best for that sort of thing you'll end up with a coprocessor for the few areas it's useful. Maybe in 20 years time a good Quantum Processing Unit (or maybe Probabilistic Processing Unit) will be essential but classical computing will still be the mainstay.

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 04:51:30 pm
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on March 26, 2016, 03:28:06 pmI shy away from saying things like that, I've seen very similar statements made about RISC processors, the Web and several other emerging technologies that are now part of every day life and utterly indispensable.

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 07:04:18 pm
content: Quote from: CJay on March 26, 2016, 04:51:30 pmI hope you are right. Only 50 years ago if you mentioned to someone what we are doing today, they would have thought it was impossible. Late 1960's technology... remember that? How much faster is today's computing as compared to 1960... and telecommunications speeds, and miniaturization/power efficiency as well. Imagine 50 years from now, if Quantum Computers take off... Just mind blowing!

author: ECEdesign
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 09:29:57 pm
content: Thought this one was pretty good

author: Tinkerer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2016, 10:44:36 pm
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on March 26, 2016, 03:28:06 pmI apologize in advance, but this is the kind of short sightedness that helps to hold things back. Sure the whole 80s flying car thing didnt come to pass, but we have the internet, 3d printers, modern auto glass you can bounce a brick off of and smack yourself in the face(happened to a burgler), etc etc etc.Reminds me of a story of an early computer show in the 90s. A certain company had a booth and had rigged up something like 9gb of hard drives to show off. The guy that was there asked them something about why they didnt have more or something like that. They looked at him like he was crazy explaining that it would be too unstable. That same company went backrupt unable to compete.If you mean we wont see it in 20-40 years, ok maybe not, but making sweeping statements like that is the sort of thing where...I will just stop here.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2016, 02:38:34 am
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on March 26, 2016, 03:28:06 pmA bold statement. I would not be so sure."I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." Stated by the president of IBM. (Admittedly it was 1943)But for something a little more contemporary, let's try this 1977 statement: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." That was stated by the founder of DEC - even though personal computers were around a year or two beforehand. This statement headed for an express trip to the hall of shame when the IBM PC was released 4 years later.

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2016, 11:44:15 am
content: Quote from: Brumby on March 27, 2016, 02:38:34 amTotally different standpoint. I'm not saying they're useless or will never have a place in the consumer market, I'm saying the very different things quantum and classical computers are good at will mean they won't replace classical computers but supplement them.No matter what nVidia may have claimed the GPU will never replace the CPU because no matter how much better a GPU may be at a lot of stuff CPU is still better at other things and always will be. I'm predicting a similar relationship with quantum computing. Trying to get a quantum computer to do certain things a classical computer is great at would be just as painful and slow as our attempts to make classical computers simulate what a quantum computer will be able to do. So why replace one with the other when you can just use both at the same time?Not saying I'm definitely right, I'm not trying to hold back progress as some have claimed, in fact I'd love to be proven wrong. But even if I'm not and their practical uses don't go beyond cryptography, quantum simulation, and FFTs that's a wonderful addition to our current tool box.

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 27, 2016, 12:42:42 pm
content: Fair comment - but I envisage the 'classic computing' architecture shifting to a support role, where today's CPU will become the quantum processor's Eastbridge and Westbridge (North and South are already taken.)