To think quantum computers at IBM in the 80's, its sad to think companies like IBM and Bell Labs are not the same companies they used to be, I mean the people working at those companies during the 20th century changed the world. Im glad they got this award as it is apparent they had a huge impact on security and quantum computing in general.
wil421 10 hours ago [-]
Serving Ads is more lucrative. I wonder what kind of stories we will tell about how the social media companies exploited human nature to make a buck.
jungturk 7 hours ago [-]
"Serving ads" is just the commercial application. All of the infrastructure used to harness (coordinate? co-opt?) the attention of the many and direct it toward some desired aims will surely end up being a tremendously transformative social capability.
Hard to see the upside for humanity as we've understood it to date, but its definitely going to be more impactful than just making a buck.
rozal 8 hours ago [-]
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11 hours ago [-]
AtlasBarfed 17 hours ago [-]
So the guy that came up with the idea and approach is the secondary on the award?
smokel 16 hours ago [-]
No, there is one award each year, and this year it is shared equally between two people: Charles Bennett and Gilles Brassard. This happens more often, and it has even been shared between three people (in 2002, 2007 and 2018).
[1] https://www.quantamagazine.org/quantum-cryptography-pioneers...
Hard to see the upside for humanity as we've understood it to date, but its definitely going to be more impactful than just making a buck.