Why is our old computer gasping for breath?
Sometimes, you just have to feel sorry for your laptop. Open ten or fifteen tabs, and the poor fan screams its head off, the cursor thinks twice before moving. In short, it’s gasping for breath.
A titan that ruled the world for fifty years is now sitting on its throne, looking tired. Why?
There’s this thing called Moore’s Law. It’s the job of stuffing people into a tiny chip. The number of people doubles every two years. It was going well. But now, it has become like an unreserved coach in a Chennai Central festival train. The person inside can’t get out; the person outside can’t get in. Physics has shut its doors. “No Vacancy!”
The foundation of our digital world rests on just two numbers. Zero… one. If there’s power, it’s one; if not, it’s zero. Yes… no. Black… white. It’s a miracle we’ve managed to run this whole circus with just these two. But the puzzles of nature aren’t in black and white; they are in brilliant color. When we try to solve the universe’s secrets with just two numbers, our supercomputers stare blankly at the paper, like a student who doesn’t understand the exam question.
So, the door is locked.
Engineers scratched their heads. This wonderful machine we created has hit its limit. The street is full. What to do now?
So, is there a key for this lock?
Yes, there is. But… it’s a strange key.
It’s not the key to this universe. It’s the key to an alternate reality.
The Mischief-Maker Qubit!
The name of that key from the alternate reality is the ‘Qubit’. This is a supreme mischief-maker. It’s no well-behaved kid like our old ‘Bit’. Ask it, ‘Are you a zero or a one?’ and it will tell you with a wink, ‘I’m both.’ Ask ‘How?’ and it will reply with a smirk, ‘You’ll see when the results come.’
This is ‘Superposition’. Like playing the hero and the villain in the same movie. Until you see it on screen, it could be anything.
It has another mischievous trick: ‘Entanglement’. You could even call it a cosmic conspiracy. If you link two qubits, you can keep one with you and another one in outer space. If you disturb the one here, the one out there will dance. Instantly. The speed of light is nothing before this. No information needs to travel for this to happen. Einstein called it “spooky action at a distance.” A ghost’s game! This is the thing that made even Einstein tear his hair out!
So What’s In It For Me?
“Will this mischievous qubit reduce my electricity bill?” Good question. It won’t. But it will change your entire life.
Medicine: Discovering a new drug is like searching for a single, specific grain of sand on Marina Beach. Our computers are searching grain by grain. Quantum will scan the entire beach in one go and hand you that one grain.
Security: Right now, your bank password and private emails are safe in an iron vault. When a quantum computer arrives, that iron vault will become as open as a newspaper laid out in a tea shop. Anyone can read it. It’s a danger, yes. But the work of building a new lock before the thief arrives is already underway.
Artificial Intelligence (AI): This is the pinnacle. AIs like Shivanaya will stop calculating and start ‘thinking’. Perhaps, they might even begin to ‘dream’.
Can I get one at Ritchie Street?
Alright. Can you buy a quantum computer at your local electronics bazaar tomorrow? Forget it. Today’s quantum computer is a fragile baby, protected by hundreds of scientists in the coldest place in the universe, inside a giant room. And the calculations it makes are full of errors. Big companies like Google and IBM are in this race. It will take many years to win.
Where is India?
India cannot be a mere spectator in this game. This is the technology of the next century. When AI and Quantum combine, an unimaginable power will be born. It can create, and it can destroy. If we miss this bus, we will be waiting at the bus stop for the next 100 years.
The Final Twist:
“We created computers. From now on, computers will create us!?.”
