Computer scientists and engineers have started down a road that could one day lead to a momentous transition: from deterministic computing systems, based on classical physics, to quantum computing systems, which exploit the weird and wacky probabilistic rules of quantum physics. Many commentators have pointed out that if engineers are able to fashion practical quantum computers, there will be a tectonic shift in the sort of computations that become possible ¶ But that's a big if. ¶ Quantum computers hold great theoretical promise, sure, but the hurdles that need to be overcome to build practical machines are enormous. Some skeptics have argued that the technical challenges are so immense that it's very unlikely that general-purpose quantum computers will become available anytime in the foreseeable future. Others, including the engineers now working very hard to build these machines at Google, IBM, Intel, and elsewhere, are more sanguine, anticipating that 5 or 10 more years of work may be enough to bring the first practical general-purpose quantum computers on line. Only time will tell. ≫

中文翻译：

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关于两个主要计算系统的对话：想象一下自己在一次飞行中与工程师谈论跨越经典和量子的方案

计算机科学家和工程师已经走上了一条有可能导致重大转变的道路：从基于经典物理学的确定性计算系统到利用量子物理学的怪异和古怪的概率规则的量子计算系统。许多评论家指出，如果工程师能够开发出实用的量子计算机，那么可能发生的计算形式就会发生构造性变化。¶ ¶当然，量子计算机具有巨大的理论前景，但是构建实际机器需要克服的障碍是巨大的。一些怀疑论者认为，技术挑战是如此之大，以致通用量子计算机在可预见的将来不可能随时可用。其他，包括现在正在谷歌，IBM，英特尔和其他地方竭尽全力来制造这些机器的工程师在内，他们更加乐观，他们预计5年或10年的工作可能足以使第一台实用的通用量子计算机投入生产。只有时间证明一切。≫