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Re:First quantum computers need smart software by amelius on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @07:15AM (#15292463)
I'd like to ask: what is more likely to become a reality in the next decade, fusion power or quantum computing?
Re:First quantum computers need smart software by adrianN on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @07:41AM (#15292616)
In the next decade: Both won't happen. Building a fusion power plant would take at least a decade if we already knew how to do it. Quantum computers are still in the "We can find primefactors of numbers < 100" stage of research.
Re:First quantum computers need smart software by marcosdumay on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:07AM (#15294537)
As usual, Wikipedia collects everything:

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

Looks like the state of the art is 17-qbits, what leads us to numbers slightly larger than 100000.

Re:First quantum computers need smart software by throwaway613834 on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @05:06PM (#15298245)
I'm not sure which of those (if any) demonstrate conclusively that the computation had quantum speedup. I know experts have disputed at least some of the claimed demonstrations.
Re:First quantum computers need smart software by amelius on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @11:18AM (#15294687)
But how is it increasing? E.g., is there a Moore's law of qubits?
Re:First quantum computers need smart software by sampo on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @12:31PM (#15295617)
1998: First computers with 2 and then 3 bits of memory.

2000: Computers with 5 and 7 bits of memory.

2006: 12 bits of memory

2011: 14 bits

2017: 17 bits

There is too little data to suggest anything else than a linear fit. But then again, the early stages of exponential, or logarithmic, growth can look linear. We should wait 10-20 years to get more data.

Re:First quantum computers need smart software by marcosdumay on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @12:33PM (#15295651)

    2017 - 17 qbits
    2011 - 14 qbits
    2006 - 12 qbits
    2000 - 7  qbits
Looks like a line to me. I expected something way more noisy.
Re:First quantum computers need smart software by QAPereo on Wednesday September 20, 2017 @10:41AM (#15294252)
...and we don't know how to build a fusion plant that can operate as a viable plant... and we're not just a decade away from that.