When can I buy the first Quantum Computer ?

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Evan-Josh Roose

I think current CPUs and computers aren't really that much better than
the cpus and PCs 10 years ago - they are just faster.

So when do the real quantum leaps come - Quantum computers, real AI,
machines that can do more than a Windows PC which really isn't more
"intelligent" than an ancient Apple II from the 70s...
 
Evan-Josh Roose said:
I think current CPUs and computers aren't really that much better than
the cpus and PCs 10 years ago - they are just faster.

So when do the real quantum leaps come - Quantum computers, real AI,
machines that can do more than a Windows PC which really isn't more
"intelligent" than an ancient Apple II from the 70s...
Click to expand...

What makes you think a quantum computer will
be any more "intelligent" ?

And I think it will be a few years yet.
They just announced a milestone a few weeks ago
about managing to arrange 5 qbits into a 4 + parity
storage cell. When usages of several orders of
magnitude more qbits ceases to become newsworthy then
it might be the appropriate time to start asking your
question.
 
What makes you think a quantum computer will be any more "intelligent" ?
Click to expand...

Exactly. I see the biggest problem being software, not
hardware. Lots of people have been working on radically
different types of software (learning, or path dependant).
Until these are developed, quantum computers will just be
used to run current pgms faster.

-- Robert
 
Robert said:
Exactly. I see the biggest problem being software, not
hardware. Lots of people have been working on radically
different types of software (learning, or path dependant).
Until these are developed, quantum computers will just be
used to run current pgms faster.
Click to expand...

I think for a while after quantum computing becomes
available the initial users are going to be restricted
entirely to the guys who did the R&D work for quantum
hardware. For a long time they are going to be the only
ones who will be able to grasp exactly what it is
possible to accomplish with those computers.

The phrase "paradigm shift" has been used and abused so
much that I hate to use it, but I think quantum computing
is simply going to present too much of a "paradigm shift"
for most people to handle.

At some point some bright kid will develop an abstraction
layer that will let the current generation of programmers
deal with quantum hardware. Until that happens, the
overwhelming majority of those programmers will never be
able to adjust to programming for a platform that doesn't
obediently push discrete bits around in wholly predictable
ways.
 
Rob said:
I think for a while after quantum computing becomes
available the initial users are going to be restricted
entirely to the guys who did the R&D work for quantum
hardware. For a long time they are going to be the only
ones who will be able to grasp exactly what it is
possible to accomplish with those computers.

The phrase "paradigm shift" has been used and abused so
much that I hate to use it, but I think quantum computing
is simply going to present too much of a "paradigm shift"
for most people to handle.

At some point some bright kid will develop an abstraction
layer that will let the current generation of programmers
deal with quantum hardware. Until that happens, the
overwhelming majority of those programmers will never be
able to adjust to programming for a platform that doesn't
obediently push discrete bits around in wholly predictable
ways.
Click to expand...

A working quantum computer will almost certainly be put to immediate use
by three letter agencies with an interest in cryptography.

As to more general uses for quantum computers, one answer not completely
out of the realm of possibility is never. Never is almost always the
wrong answer in technology, but people might first want to make more
progress understanding the capabilities and limitations of classical
platforms for the more ambitious things (like artificial intelligence)
one might do with quantum computers.

My fear of quantum computers is that they make a really convenient
excuse for the three letter agencies to continue in their current
holding pattern until this far-in-the-future silver bullet materializes.
I'm solid with the OP of his assessment of progress since the Apple II
(or my beloved Cray I). In any case, I hope we don't have to wait for
quantum computers for something that might qualify as a paradigm shift.

RM
 
"Evan-Josh Roose" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de

I think current CPUs and computers aren't really that much better than
the cpus and PCs 10 years ago - they are just faster.

So when do the real quantum leaps come - Quantum computers, real AI,
machines that can do more than a Windows PC which really isn't more
"intelligent" than an ancient Apple II from the 70s...
Click to expand...

After the very possibility of their existence will be proven
experimentally, which is far from certain, and to say the truth,
extremely dubious. Nobody on earth understand quantum mechanics, so for
its applications... come again later.
 
Cl.Massé said:
"Evan-Josh Roose" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de



After the very possibility of their existence will be proven
experimentally, which is far from certain, and to say the truth,
extremely dubious. Nobody on earth understand quantum mechanics, so for
its applications... come again later.
Click to expand...
At the most one could only claim that nobody understands the *metaphysical*
implications. Like all of physics, QM is just mathematics, and most modern
technology utilizes it.
 
"Interesting Ian" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
message de
At the most one could only claim that nobody understands the
*metaphysical* implications. Like all of physics, QM is just
mathematics, and most modern technology utilizes it.
Click to expand...

The quantum computer uses metaphysical implications, in their pure
mathematical form. Modern technology uses experimental data of quantum
phenomena. Technology isn't science.
 
Cl.Massé said:
"Interesting Ian" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le
message de




The quantum computer uses metaphysical implications, in their pure
mathematical form. Modern technology uses experimental data of quantum
phenomena. Technology isn't science.
Click to expand...

That is where you are wrong. Quantum computer does not use any mathaphysical
implications, just the very same QM formalism as any other technologies.
What makes it different is the experimental difficulty in handling this
particular application of the formalism - the mixed states, because they become
decoherent with smallest interferance from outside. So, problem with QM computers
is purely technical - isolating the mixed states and modifying them without
causing decoherence.
Nobody has any doubths about correctness of mathematical
or physical approach they are based on. However many have doubths about feasibility
of its technological implementation. I am however quite optimistic that
it can be made practical, but not too soon. You already have QM effects in
your PC (in the harddrive, that uses giant magnetoresistance - purely QM effect).
I expect computers using QM effect as basis of CPU and memory in 10 - 15 years.

Regards,
Evgenij





--

__________________________________________________
*science&fiction*free programs*fine art*phylosophy:
http://sudy_zhenja.tripod.com
----------remove hate_spam to answer--------------
 
That is where you are wrong. Quantum computer does not use any
mathaphysical implications, just the very same QM formalism as any
other technologies.
What makes it different is the experimental difficulty in handling
this particular application of the formalism - the mixed states,
because they become decoherent with smallest interferance from
outside.
Click to expand...

The error is, the mixed state doesn't contain two states, but only one
and we don't know which. It is impossible to read the two states since
during this operation, the quantum state collapses toward one of them,
and not because of decoherence. Decoherence is also widely disputed
as an explanation of the quantum mysteries. You see we are right in the
core of the interpretation of QM, which hasn't a satisfactory solution
yet. Quantum computer try to make a bold jump from our current
knowledge, unlike other applications.
So, problem with QM computers
is purely technical - isolating the mixed states and modifying them
without causing decoherence.
Nobody has any doubths about correctness of mathematical
or physical approach they are based on.
Click to expand...

Nobody? You know them all? If they all are wrong, does that make them
right?
 
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