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by daivd 3954 days ago
It is not a conventional quantum computer. You cannot use it to factor numbers. You use it to find approximate solutions to optimization problems.
2 comments

Well, I will tell one relevant problem that can be annihilated with this: ads placement. Google advertisement adwords is all based on a auction mechanism at the end of which you have to find the best allocation of ads to bidders (to slots) - which has an evident combinatorial nature, to find optimum you should try all possibile combinations. This is typically solved in approximated ways. It may not be a "conventional quantum computer" but it's pretty usefull anyway:) I can't wait to toy with one..
So in a way it's similar to the analog computers that were around for decades (or, really, for millennia). It's just smaller and faster than most.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer