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Rolf Landauer criticized idea #5901.
#5901·Peter ShorHistorical profile, April 1994·AI-assistedA quantum computer could factor numbers hundreds of digits long in hours, by finding how often the remainders of a number’s powers repeat. That would break the codes that protect most of the internet’s secrets, which rely on factoring being too hard.
A quantum computer could never run long enough. Its quantities vary continuously, like those of an old analog computer, so small errors pile up and can’t be corrected the way a classical computer corrects a slipped bit: you can’t even look at a quantum state to check it without disturbing it.