In the last century they were a technology trailblazer, will quantum computing return IBM to that leadership role?
Did you watch 60 minutes from Sunday? There are multiple US companies and China chasing Quantum Computing. The prediction was that it will be feasible by about 2030. I’m not betting on a 6 year horse race.
Yes, I watched the 60 Minutes segment last Sunday.
It’s a sequential problem and IBM currently has a HUGE lead. And… without a quantum computer you can’t reverse-engineer the technology. The winner will own the global economic system.
For starters all encryption schemes developed using today’s computers will become useless. A 2030 quantum computer system will be able to crack any of them in milliseconds.
That’s going to be super not fun for all of us.
It’s about as big as a big deal can get.
The critical stages will come as competing global powers get closer to the real potential of an actual working quantum system.
It’s the kind of thing world wars are born of. Virtually anything you want to simulate for research and development will be able to be done at mind-boggling speeds a very low costs.
If you wanted to design the perfect offensive military weapon for a particular purpose you could have the plans and possibly a prototype of it in hours instead of years. And… simultaneously create an alternative political strategy to accomplish the same outcome using negotiations, economics, and environmental methods. Then present the outcomes in the use of either and see the most likely end results.
And use it or lose it… With the breaking of encryption, do you fire your nukes off NOW or risk that later in the day they will be rendered inoperable as your entire national infrastructure, civilian and military, goes offline?
It’ll get interesting… like they say “may you live in interesting times”
We’ve got some work to do. Our biggest competitor, China, has a culture that is steeped in long-range planning strategies. We need to learn something from them in that regard.
“HAHAHAHAHAHA that’s a good one”
It’s not a joke, it’s true.
When I was with IBM in TX in the early eighties I sat in some planning sessions with a major US oil tool supplier who had contracts with Chinese oil companies. Some planning data from the Chinese oil exploration and production companies was made available to our account team.
Most US enterprises have strategic plans that looked forward from 5 to maybe 20 years. Chinese companies had strategic plans extending 25 to over 50 years.
1 Like
I meant “haha” in the sense of “good luck trying to get US companies to think long term”. It’s quarter-to-quarter, show me the moneeeeeey…
Sad but true… 
I understan that as Quantum computers get more and more sophisticaed, they will be able to crack even very intricate passwords. It will be a catr and mouse scenerio with encription getting better and cracking passwords better.
Generally these people are trying to get your money moreso than to just impersonate you I think.
Keep in mind that much of this sought-after money is in the cloud so to speak.
My proposal is to not put you money in the cload. Imagine having some type of receipt that you could keep on your person that unlocked your funds. I call this receipt MONEY… you would take certain BILLS and pay for items at the point of contact. It would be impossible for someone remotely to access your funds and take them.
Just a thought 
Maybe it will catch on.
Take that thought and then multiply the effect by 100, wait one minute and multiply it again by a million, then wait one more second and multiply it by a billion. That is what quantum computing brings to the table.
Then add a generous helping of quantum-computer-generated AI and step back.
THAT is what is ahead. 