Computing has come an incredibly long way over the past few decades.
We are amidst a technological revolution, with machines becoming more advanced by the year.
Two particularly advanced inventions, the supercomputer and the quantum computer, have masses of applications and potential.
But what’s the difference between a supercomputer and a quantum computer, and which is better?
What Is a Supercomputer?
Supercomputers are huge systemsthat can span entire rooms in size.
Image Credit: National Nuclear Security Administration/Flickr
These machines do not look anything like your typical desktop PC or laptop.
Rather, supercomputers consist of large groups of processors, all working together to achieve a particular goal.
Supercomputers first emerged in the 1960s, upon the creation of the CDC (Control Data Corporation) 6600.
Image Credit: IBM Research/Flickr
But things have come a very long way since then.
Today’s supercomputers are extremely powerful, to say the least.
But, of course, this is all relative.
The CDC 6600 was a phenomenon in computing but would be seen as nothing special today.
After all, it only took half a decade for it to be outshone by the CDC 7600.
So, keep that in mind when considering the power of supercomputers today.
Like your own PC, supercomputers can process and store data, but go much further beyond that.
They can also quickly carry out processes that a regular computer may take months or years to complete.
The capabilities of these machines are somewhat mind-blowing and have proven helpful in an array of different industries.
But, at their core, supercomputers have the same nuts and bolts as regular computers.
The computer you use daily probably has a handful of CPU cores, with some only having one.
So, imagine what could be achieved if its power was increased many, many times over.
Supercomputers are fascinating but incredibly expensive to build and maintain.
And even these highly advanced machines have their limitations.
So, the bigger a supercomputer gets, the more expensive it gets.
On top of this, supercomputers generate huge amounts of heat that need to be removed to prevent overheating.
All in all, the use of supercomputers is a very pricey and exhaustive process.
In addition, there are some problems that supercomputers cannot solve simply because they are too complex.
What Is a Quantum Computer?
Theconcept of quantum computingfirst arose in the 1980s.
This is because they operate in drastically different ways.
Qubits are unimaginably small.
What’s great about qubits is that they can exist in multiple states at once.
Let’s break this down.
Binary codeis just that, binary.
On the other hand, Qubits can exist simultaneously in multiple states, known as quantum superposition.
Qubits can also achieve quantum entanglement, in which pairs of qubits link together.
This contributes to the processing ability of quantum computers.
Various companies are currently working on the development of quantum computers, including IBM and Google.
So, there’s a big “if” hanging over the entire field of quantum computing.
Quantum computers are incredibly difficult to build and program and still have high error rates.
On top of this, the current processing power of quantum computers makes them entirely unsuitable for typical applications.
One day, we may see quantum computing advance to the point where supercomputers are no longer necessary.
There’s no denying that huge developments have already been made in this field.
