Readers no doubt will be aware of the government decision to finance a $1 billion venture capital initiative in a joint partnership with the USA based PSI Quantum to produce the world’s first commercial Quantum computer.

Clearly if successful it will see Australia in the top echelon of Quantum technological development which is exciting.

I am not here to debate the merits of this decision other than to say it is disappointing that an Australian company was not identified as a partner in the risk capital venture, if indeed tax payers should fund such ventures.

It is probably fair to say that it is challenging for many of our generation to keep up with the rapid rate of change in IT, particularly if we fear it is likely to impact on our home computers and our ability to operate them.

There is so much debate on the merits of Quantum Computers and Super Computers I thought it may be useful to summarise the differences between these and our home computer.

Home Computers

·      General everyday use.

·      Our Home computers typically have multi-core processors with clock speeds in the gigahertz (GHz) range, capable of handling everyday tasks like browsing, editing documents, and running basic programs.

·      They are designed for general-purpose use, ranging from personal use to business use applications. They are suitable for processing diverse tasks requiring moderate computing power and memory.

·      Relatively affordable and compact ranging from your smart phones, iPad, laptops, desktops to powerful workstations

Super Computers

·      Possess thousands or even millions of processors working in parallel, achieving - trillions or quadrillions of calculations per second, respectively. This massive processing power allows them to tackle incredibly complex problems beyond the reach of ordinary computers.

·      Commonly used in scientific research, weather forecasting, engineering simulations, and other fields requiring immense computational power. They are not designed for everyday tasks.

·      Investment is expensive and occupy dedicated facilities due to their size, cooling requirements, and power consumption.

·      Generally found in research institutions or government agencies and have limited accessibility due to their specialized nature and cost.

Quantum Computers

A quantum computer is a device that does calculations and stores data based on the principles of quantum mechanics, an emerging science. It can solve complex computational problems more efficiently than classical computers.

·      Quantum computers use quantum digits (QUBITS) rather than binary digits or bits (0, 1). QUBIT can have more than one value at a time.

·      Quantum computer is totally different from traditional computers, and they are much faster than extremely powerful supercomputers.

·      Quantum computers are widely employed in different field of technology and science, such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, solar capture, weather forecasting, drug development, and more.

In summary it is probably fair to conclude that our home computer and its derivations will be around for some considerable time yet, however all generations will have to focus on adapting to a rapidly changing computer world.

“There is nothing as constant as Change”

Royalty-free photos from Pixabay