With this post we are beginning our coverage of D-Wave Systems, the world’s first commercially available quantum computer system.
D-Wave Systems and their approach is not without controversy. Computer scientists and those who track technology have long studied the potential of quantum computing. The theories of what it can do are incredible, and lab research proves on a daily basis that these theories can be transformed into working realities. D-Wave Systems was formed to commercialize real technologies in this field, specifically technologies around processing with Qubits. Two generations of systems have been produced, known as D-Wave One and D-Wave Two.
D-Wave publishes a great deal of research and continues to advance the science around quantum computing. But scientists have been arguing for years whether or not these devices are really quantum computers. It might be that they work and work well but are not using true quantum effects. But I believe D-wave’s claims (after reviewing as much of the research that I can understand and reading what other scientists say I believe D-wave’s claims).
What matters in business is results, and what matters most is results that are differentiated from others. Right now, D-Wave is producing results in optimization problems that appear to be far better than others, by at least two orders of magnitudes.
But a concern that enterprise technologists should evaluate is the rapid march of commodity technologies and new models for distributed computing over commodity technologies. What if in just a few years the already rapid progression of other more standard computing techniques and new models for distributed computing may deliver results that surpass the D-Wave results? I believe the industry is on a path towards that and therefore recommend caution for anyone considering D-Wave.
For more information see: D-Wave Systems
Related Reading:
The No-Hype Guide To Quantum Computing You Need To See Today
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