Read more: TIME Magazine Cover: The Infinity Machine - Feb. 17, 2014 - Quantum - Computing - Computers - Physics - Technology http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20140217,00.html#ixzz2sr19sH6X
begin quote:
Quantum Leap
Inside the tangled quest for the future of computing
Technology
A New kind of Machine could unlock the power to solve our most difficult problems. Major companies and government agencies believe it will change how we cure disease. Explore the heavens and do business on earth. Critics say it's not everything it seems to be.
end quote from page 27 of the above picture of the Time magazine in this issue.
My thought is that quantum computers have the same problems all other computers have which is "Garbage in Garbage out".
People often emphasize the computing power of a computer but we have all watched 200 IQ people either crash their Ferrari's into a brick wall at 200 mph or Overdose on Heroin or other drugs because they couldn't deal with their level of intelligence coursing through their minds 24 hours a day.
So, some of the same issues are had by all Supercomputers. In other words if the software isn't perfect or it's just buggy, if the questions asked aren't thought out right beforehand, if it isn't functioning perfectly, all you are going to get is garbage (or even worse) solutions that are only 50% to 75% useful with no one at all on earth intelligent enough to ferret out any of the problems with the solutions. So, basically at that point you would need a regular Non-quantum Super computer to ferret out any problems you are having understanding the Quantum computers solutions and answers and as to their correctness and usefulness in general.
So, some way to check the veracity of the solutions created by the quantum computers would be necessary before you actually believed what any quantum super computer told you in any way that it communicated it to you.
Also, because there are at least 3 states and not two like in all digital computers (in other words there is a 1, a zero and a quantum unknown. So, because of three or more states instead of two these quantum computers are thought to be capable of more processing power than all the atoms in the Universe(which is quite a thought in itself) if you think about it. And this is possible by functioning at the coldest known temperature anywhere in the universe (or at least this galaxy) which is now found near Vancouver, Canada in a place called Burnaby. So, now Burnaby Canada has the lowest temperatures (at least in this Galaxy) that we know of of -459.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here is a quote regarding the strange properties of Quantum Physics on pages 28 and 29 of this same above Time Magazine:
Quantum Physics a primer
Complicated? Yes. But it's the best tool we have for explaining the world of subatomic particles
The Theory
Erwin Shrodinger created the famous thought experiment that illustrates the strangeness of quantum superposition.
I cat is sealed in a box with a flask of poison and a radiation source. If the source emits a radioactive particle--a 50-50 chance--the flask shatters, releasing the poison and killing the cat.
Quantum mechanics implies that the cat is simultaneously alive and dead--in superposition--until it is observed. The act of opening the box colapses the superposition, returning the cat to the classical state and making it either alive or dead.
Building a Computer
Quantum computers process data by taking advantage of quantum effects--like superposition-- to speed up calculations
Classical computers
Process data in the form of bits, single units of information that can be either 1 or zero. This is the building block of all digital computation.
Quantum computers
Rely on quantum bits, or qubits, which because of quantum superposition can be 1 and zero at the same time.
Faster calculations
Because data can exist in multiple states, a quantum computer can perform multiple operations simultaneously instead of one by one.
Problem Solving
D-WAVE's (the company making Quantum computers)version
of a quantum computer is effective with so-called optimization problems--
like selecting the most efficient route through several destinations
These types of problems exist in fields such as stock trading, software design and medicine.
end quote from the bottom of 28 and 29 in the above Time magazine of the cover illustrated and quoted above.
So, theoretically specifically in stock trading, software design, medicine and similar fields with optimization problems quantum computers could be very effective because of their mechanisms and design.
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