A key figure-of-merit for quantum computing is 'fidelity', which you can basically think of as the probability that a given operation will produce the intended outcome. If you have a fidelity of 80%, you might be able to do some extremely simple calculations and run them several times to make sure they're right. But any serious multi-stage calculation quickly becomes impossible as the probability of something going wrong quickly adds up. For quantum computing to actually do anything useful, fidelity in the region of 99.9999% is basically non-negotiable, because this is what semiconductor gates in regular computers can achieve.

[–] SmoothOperator@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Absolutely agree, but its important to distinguish between the actual quantum computing on one hand, and the materials development and Majorana particle discovery on the other hand.

What I was discussing was the latter. I.e. before you can get anywhere near computing and fidelities, you first need a qubit. The issue here is that Microsoft are like 80% sure they have the qubit they think they have. That doesn't mean they have a qubit with 80% fidelity.

[–] davetortoise@reddthat.com 2 points 1 week ago

Ah okay - I think I misread your original comment. Agreed.