What3words

[BigdummySteve]

I've just downloaded the app after reading an article about this system originally it was invented to address the problem of people in 3rd world countries who couldn't access basic services due to not having an address. It works by using a combination of three words to pin point any 3x3mtr square, for instance I'm at humid.titles.currently

http://w3w.co/humid.titles.currently

I like the system a lot and offers opportunities to find the rudest/ most humorous bivvy locations

[Steezysix]

A friend of mine was telling me about this a while ago, could definitely be handy for cheeky bivi spots! He's in the police and thinks it's also a drug dealers dream come true, but that's another matter...

[ScotRoutes]

The Navmii satnav app uses this too.

[Zippy]

I became aware of this a few years ago when it popped up on streetmap.

I find it not particularly useful, difficult to place and nor do you have in your head any even vague clue of where the place is...unlike all the other various geographical systems where you do!

Lat/Long etc. can work for places without address'

Don't get it. Seems like it's been made up by humanities students.

And pinched from the wikipedia page:

"what3words system is controlled by a private business and the software for being copyrighted and thus not freely usable. The fact that similar addresses are purposefully far away from each other is also seen by some as a disadvantage.[22][23][24] What3words reserves the right to change their list of words and will not be responsible for the consequences.[25] The square size is fixed, limiting location accuracy to 3 metres. The grid is two-dimensional, so the addressing scheme does not distinguish between floors in a building. The system only supports a few languages, although all languages cover the entire world's land areas."

Sounds like a load of money making bull'

[Dave Barter]

I massively hate it. Mainly because I am a miserable old git..but:-

1) it is useless without an internet connection as you have to look up these words in their database. Cannot be used on a map whereas lon/lat can
2) it is funded by VCs, closed and proprietary, it is a money making venture and will never be "free". It's the same with the postal address file. Royal Mail owns it and rapes the British public/business community daily for license fees.
3) I don't believe it works. The words are too random and disconnected. I looked up my address 5 minutes ago and have forgotten it.
4) the opportunity to use swear words has been missed. I wanted to claim arse.biscuit.world as my own

5) I'm basically copying Zippy who got in before me!

[Zippy]

3) I don't believe it works. The words are too random and disconnected. I looked up my address 5 minutes ago and have forgotten it.

I agree, it's really not that memorable in reality. If they were less random, you would have a 3m wide strip across the planet that would be the "arse" strip, next to the "bottom" strip, or something...

[BigdummySteve]

2) it is funded by VCs, closed and proprietary, it is a money making venture and will never be free

That puts a different slant on it, so basically it's a way of shafting the poorest people in the world.

[cyclingtiger]

It really comes down to what the owners of the system decide to do with it.

As mentioned, it's not without it's problems. Oddly it seems to be better equipped for coded sharing of locations like bivvy spots than the purpose it was originally intended for. Already there's the issue of it being an anglicised naming convention, needing access to the internet and inconsistency in which authorities and organisations are going to be using it.

Longitude and latitude are fine but for the vast majority of people they really aren't useful unless you also have access to the internet in order to decode what the numbers mean. And its equally dependent on the other party to be able to interpret them and be able to use them accurately.

What 3 words does pose an interesting solution to a common third world problem and it isn't without it's merits. However, I think the creators have gone about it the wrong way. Really what it needs is a bit of reorganising, some logical consistency in the naming convention that transliterates into multiple language structures and the capacity to add a couple of levels so that you can add that all too important third dimension.

Oh, and it needs to be absolutely open source.

[GregMay]

Oh good, another standard. [/sarcasticface]

I'll stick with Lat/Long

[Richard G]

I actually hate using lat / long, mostly because I can never remember how to enter the damn things into my gps / google etc.

Three words? I can remember three words!

[Zippy]

Back to this.

I was sitting in a meeting the other day - and the cost consultants PM was advocating the use of what3words, because some of our constructions sites are covered by a postcode that can incorporate quite a large expanse, and how what3words is more accurate.... In turn he was then saying how they won't accept grid references, but will accept what3words (no idea how that makes sense, but I do remember my friend phoning the emergency services, having a grid reference but obvs didn't know the post code, and had to find a house in order to do so ).

Anyway, I can't find anywhere with factual information to suggest that the emergency services do use it... (apart from the what3words website, which I'll take with a pinch of salt ta.)

Can anyone validate this or not please?

[Alpinum]

Anyway, I can't find anywhere with factual information to suggest that the emergency services do use it... (apart from the what3words website, which I'll take with a pinch of salt ta.)

Can anyone validate this or not please?

I deal with emergency services multiple times a year and can only validate what sweary Dave wrote.

In Switzerland they may use it, but I never heard anything indicating this, despite w3w being around for quite a while now.

[Zippy]

Thanks Gian.
I'm contemplating bringing this up at the next meeting, or I might just duck my head down.....we'll see what mood I am in the meeting

[mikehowarth]

Personally I think its a great idea with lots of commercial relevance.

I've actually met with the W3W team for a work project and its already gaining quite a bit of momentum its already being widely used by Lonely Planet in all their new guidebooks, and has been integrated in to Mercedes sat nav.

[Dave Barter]

Maybe read this then https://what3words.com/developers/api-l ... agreement/

Many of us have been fighting for years to get OS/Royal Mail to open up the UK addressing data which is a closed proprietary system subject to licensing. It's ridiculous as the two of them can claim ownership of your address and its location. They make a bloody fortune out of licensing this data and it holds back so many applications that could use it for the greater good.

Guess what W3W have exactly the same model. And worse they've patented it. I hate s/w data patents with a vengeance and love that they are not enforceable in the UK....yet.

W3W also caveat that they could change your address sometime in the future if they want. This means you're address is not absolute for ever guaranteed ..whereas a lat/lon is.

I do think it's neat and do get where it came from. But equally users need to recognise that it is there to be monetised. Nothing else.

[Dave Barter]

Many of us have been fighting for years to get OS/Royal Mail to open up the UK addressing data which is a closed proprietary system subject to licensing. It's ridiculous as the two of them can claim ownership of your address and its location. They make a bloody fortune out of licensing this data and it holds back so many applications that could use it for the greater good.

Guess what W3W have exactly the same model. And worse they've patented it. I hate s/w data patents with a vengeance and love that they are not enforceable in the UK....yet.

W3W also caveat that they could change your address sometime in the future if they want. This means your address is not absolute for ever guaranteed ..whereas a lat/lon is.

I do think it's neat and do get where it came from. But equally users need to recognise that it is there to be monetised. Nothing else

[PaulB2]

Is lat/lon guaranteed? The meridian has already moved once due to GPS satellites...

[whitestone]

A piece on the BBC about a "rescue" - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47705912

[Zippy]

A piece on the BBC about a "rescue" - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47705912

Cheers

Crucial bits that I've taken from that article:

the location system has also gained the attention of emergency services and has recently been adopted by Avon and Somerset, Humberside and West Yorkshire police services, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire fire and rescue services and the British Transport Police.

and

He told BBC News the company was keen to get ambulance services around the UK using the system next.

[Dave Barter]

Everything you need to know is here

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bo ... ree-words/

[Zippy]

Thank you!

[benp1]

Everything you need to know is here

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bo ... ree-words/

This is interesting Dave, thanks. Can't believe Japan and Oz have changed position!

W3W have seemingly simplified lat and long though, I do find lat/long hard to plug into things like google maps etc. Would be great if there was a open source way of simplifying somehow

[Dave Barter]

Everything you need to know is here

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bo ... ree-words/

This is interesting Dave, thanks. Can't believe Japan and Oz have changed position!

W3W have seemingly simplified lat and long though, I do find lat/long hard to plug into things like google maps etc. Would be great if there was a open source way of simplifying somehow

Problem is now that if you try..you get sued by guess who?

[Zippy]

I like the what 3 emoji's parody

[Zippy]

Everything you need to know is here

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2019/03/why-bo ... ree-words/

So I may have circulated this around a portion of the Environment Agency and a bunch of others that I'm working with.