undefined | Better HN

0 pointsgroby_b15y ago0 comments

I'm not quite sure why e.g. Facebook would care about a working quantum computer, at least in the short run.

0 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

noiv15y ago· 2 in thread

Looks like bashing Facebook leads to down votes, interesting.

But short run is not 100 years. And yes, Facebook will care from day one about QC, think data center and investors willing to burn money to foster old school technology.

groby_bOP15y ago

As far as I know (and I haven't read too much about QC, so I might very well be totally off), QCs are only useful for a very specific set of problems. And none of those seem to map to FB problems right now.

Will that change? Sure. Will FB do internal research with QCs? Maybe, once they've progressed past the vaporware state. (Sidenote - if we observe QC less, will development work better? ;)

But a working QC will not put FB out of business any time soon. The hardware is only a tiny piece of the puzzle of quantum computing. Algorithms for QC are rare, hard to develop, and the field is in its absolute infancy.

noiv15y ago

"The hardware is only a tiny piece of the puzzle of quantum computing. Algorithms for QC are rare, hard to develop, and the field is in its absolute infancy."

Is that the description of computer technology as of 1911?

1 more reply

dagobart_15y ago

On the other hand, why would anybody assume, Facebook could ever have an interest in face recognition? But now they do.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse