Microsoft's Cool Quantum Computing Plan Embraces Cryogenic Memory (pcworld.com)

An anonymous reader shares a PCWorld report: Microsoft has crazy quantum computing plans: first, it built hardware based on a particle that hasn't even been discovered. Now, it's hoping to co-design super-cool memory for quantum computers. The company is working with Rambus to develop and build prototype computers with memory subsystems that can be cooled at cryogenic temperatures, typically below minus 180 degrees Celsius or minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit. Cryogenics goes hand in hand with quantum computers, which promise to be significantly faster than today's PCs and servers and may even eventually replace them. But the systems are notoriously unstable and need to be stored in refrigerators for faster and secure operation. As an example, D-Wave's 2000Q quantum computer needs to be kept significantly cooler than supercomputers so operations don't break down.

Comments

A few corrections

[110010001000]

Quantum computers do not promise to be faster than digital computers for most tasks. In fact they are only suited for a single type of task. Furthermore, D-Wave is a total scam. They don't even have a quantum computer. Now you have been edumacted.

Re:A few corrections

[rtb61]

The whole article a scam, total scummy exercise in marketing, the whole goal, join two words together to implant the idea in the readers mind because suckers 'Microsoft's cool', welcome to the world of PR=B$, public relations psychological manipulation. M$=B$ is far more accurate. How uncool is M$ in the public eye, easy, how many phones can they sell. To allow in turn over in their stores, they have to sell Android, over their own crap brand. Can not sell Windows anal probe 10, give it away free, can not give it away, force people to use it and even make them pay to have their privacy invaded. M$ that is fucking uncool, as is the privacy invasive probe, also attempting to force it up there is also wildly uncool, blocking use of hardware extremely uncool, I could not imagine a more uncool company. Thanks to windows 10, I have stopped buying PC software, nothing for months and that will continue to replacement.

Re:A few corrections

[raftpeople]

D-Wave isn't a total scam, it is definitely using quantum effects to solve some problems (annealing) faster than traditional computers. But the design limits which problems it can be applied to and how much it can scale. Other quantum computers that entangle all particles into one group (vs multiple smaller groups like d-wave) don't have the same limitation.

Re:A few corrections

[110010001000]

No it isn't. They are using a regular digital computer running annealing algorithms. Total scam.

Re:A few corrections

[gweihir]

Actually, the D-Wave is not faster than a conventional computer that is orders of magnitude cheaper. Simply use the best algorithm for each architecture. The only situation where the D-Wave is faster is if the conventional computer simulates the D-Wave. That does not make any sense, except as a marketing stunt for the gullible.

Re:A few corrections

[gweihir]

Indeed. Like most of Quantum-"Computing" these days. Call me again when they can break RSA-300 or so, which was broken by conventional computers quite a while ago. The thing is, the number of entangled qbits seem to have been growing sub-linear with time. May well be that quantum computers scale inverse exponentially with effort, and that would mean somewhere is a border where you just cannot get more and that one seems to be pretty low. There may also be an actual hard boundary that no amount of effort can overcome. Hence, a few hundred qbits may be all that is possible in this universe. That is basically worthless.

With Rambus?

[gweihir]

So two con-experts having decided to con their customers even more? Fits.