Too Long; Didn't Read
In the past few weeks, I’ve ended up <a href="https://hackernoon.com/tagged/learning" target="_blank">learning</a> a little about quantum computing. I’ve enjoyed discussions with leaders from Microsoft’s quantum team, IBM Q, Ctrl-Q, IonQ and the Cambridge Quantum Computing centre. I even saw a <a href="https://twitter.com/azeem/status/1017342987884482560" target="_blank">model of the distillation refrigerator of an IBM quantum processor</a>. The processor needs to be cooled to close to absolute zero to operate. (For more amazing pics of how liquid-helium-punk these rigs are, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/40748696@N07/sets/72157663611181258" target="_blank">check this out</a>.) This essay is dedicated to questioning: what’s holding back investors from putting more money into quantum startups and general R&D.