Can quantum computing do even basic math yet? I think this was the holdup. Or perhaps I'm missing the point.

This is a good question, and currently the answer is no. Quantum computers can only run very short, simple algorithms right now, because the qubits they're built out of are noisy. You need a lot of error correction, which the community is working on.

The thing is, unlike ordinary computers, quantum computers can factor numbers about as easily as they can multiply them. So as soon as they can multiply two large integers, they'll also be able to factor the result and break RSA encryption based on keys of that size.

This blog post gives a good sense of the state of the art and what progress might look like:

Why haven't quantum computers factored 21 yet? https://algassert.com/post/2500

> I think this was the holdup

It isn't...

It doesn't do basic math ... just the hard one :)

[dead]

You are. It’s like trying to take the train to your farm job