by exploited » Sun Feb 09, 2014 7:25 pm
It won't be distributed equally for a long time, as the technology doesn't exist yet and it will be the domain of large corporations and governments for years after it is developed. It'll have to undergo the same process of miniaturization and efficiency as traditional computers.
When I say it'll change everything, I mean it. Computing tasks that take decades to complete now will be done in seconds or milliseconds. If you are asking how this will change politics... We won't know until it starts being used. Immortality may become possible once these computers figure out exactly how the body works. You would be able to surveil every person on the planet, construct a 3D model of the world with visual representations of their bodies, every building in the world etc. Forget particle accelerators - just build a simulation, a feat that is literally impossible now even with every computer in the world working on it all day, everyday, for decades. How will data security work? All our current security algorithms are based on multiplying prime numbers, which traditional computers take forever to do but a quantum computer could do instantaneously. Or how about a chip that gets implanted in your head that can read your thoughts and transfer them instantly to another person? What will that do to the concepts of privacy or secrecy?
If you are still having trouble grasping it, it is because you haven't realized just how utterly revolutionary it would be. Think about what normal computers have done to our society and our politics - now picture those computers having processing power that is as fast and intelligent as the human brain.