  Tasked with the challenge to build better and better computers, quantum
computing and classical computing face the same conundrum: the success of
classical computing systems. Small quantum computing systems have been
demonstrated, and intermediate-scale systems are on the horizon, capable of
calculating numeric results or simulating physical systems far beyond what
humans can do by hand. However, to be commercially viable, they must surpass
what our wildly successful, highly advanced classical computers can already do.
At the same time, those classical computers continue to advance, but those
advances are now constrained by thermodynamics, and will soon be limited by the
discrete nature of atomic matter and ultimately quantum effects. Technological
advances benefit both quantum and classical machinery, altering the competitive
landscape. Can we build quantum computing systems that out-compute classical
systems capable of some $10^{30}$ logic gates per month? This article will
discuss the interplay in these competing and cooperating technological trends.

Quantum Physics;Emerging Technologies