Question about Constructing a Simple Quantum Computer

[captainhampto]

I was curious if it would be possible to construct an incredibly simple and most likely trivial computer based on an interferometer style setup which could generate random numbers based on the quantum mechanical nature of light. Namely, with a basic laser pointer, some mirrors, and a beam splitter, would it be at all possible to analyze the stream of photons from the laser and generate a random number based on the probability that an arbitrary photon took one of two paths?

If so, are there any good tutorials for performing such a task, specifically on reflecting the outcome to a computer to perform computations with? If not, is there some type of alternative or perhaps similar project to what I am inquiring about? Thanks again all.

 

[captainhampto]

Also, as a follow-up to this question, I think David Deutsch touches on this topic in the first 2 videos of his lecture series by http://www.hpl.hp.com/breweb/quiprocone/Protected/DD_lectures.htm" . Really good set of lectures by the way if any of you were interested. Not sure if this helps a bit on the elaboration side, but if not I'd be more than happy to try to explain my ideas. Thanks again.