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I have only ever heard of What3words in internet tech forums etc. Is it a well known company for the general public in some countries?
by mongol 7y ago
I have only ever heard of What3words in internet tech forums etc. Is it a well known company for the general public in some countries?
- hobofan 7y agoIt seems that they have a pretty good PR department and had articles about them in a lot of major newspapers around the world. If had quite a few non-techy people ask me about W3W that I wouldn't have assumed would know about them.
- fenwick67 7y agoI wonder this too. Honestly I have never seen it in use. In most countries, if something is on a street, it has a street address, which is more convenient than W3W.
- jakear 7y agoI’m not sure how accurate “in most countries, if something is on a street, it has a street address” is. Even in USA, if my car breaks down while I’m going cross-country, I’d be nice to have a fast way to share location.
- schoenobates 7y agoWould this not be possible though by sharing your lon/lat though? Plus easier to navigate to using gmaps or the like. On the flip side, I have read stories of w3w success in giving an address to people where a normal street address is not possible, e.g. favelas https://www.reuters.com/article/us-innovation-what-3-words/what3words-keeps-olympics-visitors-on-track-in-rio-idUSKCN10M1Q6 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-innovation-what-3-words/w...
- jakear 7y agolat, long: “I have fallen and broken my leg. I am under a rock at *thirty three point five nine six one three degrees north and one hundred and seventeen point seven nine six nine two degrees west. That’s thirty three point five nine six one three degrees north and one hundred and seventeen point seven nine six nine two degrees west.” Then wait for them to read it back to you. Then repeat that as many times as there are different people involved in the rescue. Versus 3 word: “I have fallen and broken my leg. I am under a rock at 3 word code: off-road — starfish — postmark.” Then wait for them to read it back to you. Then repeat that as many times as there are different people involved in the rescue. Where I am rn, btw. (Though thankfully not my situation) And the number of decimal places more or less corresponds with the size of the 3 code and an appropriate level of precision, given the environment.
- schoenobates 7y agoyes - very good point
- luckylion 7y agohttps://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-49319760 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-49319760 Apparently some emergency services recommend & use it.
- juped 7y agoNo emergency service should use something patent-encumbered - but W3W markets to them all the time.
- cortesoft 7y agoI have only heard about it in articles complaining about it.
- myself248 7y agoThey pay automakers to build their engine into in-car nav systems. You can now enter w3w address into many cars directly, but not competing open systems like plus codes or xaddress or maidenhead or whatever.