3 ms·
what3words is a large hash table mapping 3x3m squares of land with the key being a unique three word phrase and the value being the 3x3 grid square. That's real
by buttcoinslol 9y ago
what3words is a large hash table mapping 3x3m squares of land with the key being a unique three word phrase and the value being the 3x3 grid square. That's really all it is. Oh, by the way, if the service goes down, everything grinds to a halt because there is no backup analog system (maps, etc).
It's a solution searching for a problem, and existing mail and building addressing schemes are far superior to it.
- lxmorj 9y agoIt's easy for humans to memorize, though I don't know exactly what that's worth...
- buttcoinslol 9y agoWhen all you need now is '123 Fake St, 12345' to get a map of a location and directions to it on your phone, not much. You can locate '123 Fake St, 12345' without a phone, so it wins.
- xtreme 9y agoAs others have pointed out, lots of places in underdeveloped countries don't have street names and numbers.
- buttcoinslol 9y agoAs others have pointed out, and I quote, "a proprietary system from a for-profit company should not be used as the basis for addressing in any country."
- dorfsmay 9y agoSo it'd be easy for everybody to contribute their address and GPS coordinates to an open database. Eventually it'd be usable enough that most people wouldn't need to access the paid for DB.