Actually, I had switched off from the whole quantum computing debate for a few years. It was always in the theoretical camp. But it looks like the increasing use of encryption has put governments on the back foot and so they are pumping money into pushing forward research and the day when quantum chips will be available.
It looks like <5 years; so say <10 years for widespread use. That means governments will likely be testing using chips within 5-10 years.
As this article says: are you ready for your dodgy crypto transactions to be unmasked?
http://phys.org/news/2016-01-quantum-comingare.htmlBefore this stuff gets buried under a pile of squabbling about nothing much...
15 minutes on Google and I'd be shitting it about quantum chips if I had past transactions with something to hide.
They are not as far away as people think.
* Google has some
actual evidence on quantum computations, and that phones with quantum chips could probably unravel mixed coins.
*
IBM and NASA are preparing to building chips
* A group in Australia have carried out demos
that seem within a whisker of being fab plant ready
* Microsoft are building
software that can run calculations on quantum chips
etc.