3 ms·

I can't imagine how What3Words is actually useful. According to [1], 5 decimal places in Lat/Lon coordinates gets you 1.11 meter accuracy at the equator (more

I can't imagine how What3Words is actually useful. According to [1], 5 decimal places in Lat/Lon coordinates gets you 1.11 meter accuracy at the equator (more accurate than the 3m w3w claims). If you're in a densely populated area, your cell phone would provide the location in most circumstances. If you're really lost 100 meters, or 3 decimal places is likely all you need. That's twice as many words (three before the decimal, and three after). But I'm sure if you break it down into syllables, Lat/Lon coordinates will likely win or at least be enough every time. Once you factor in the ambiguity of what words are being spoken, words you don't know how to pronounce, and language barriers, I can't imagine a use for W3W. To use an example from the article, "circle.goal.leaders" is six syllables and could easily be interpreted as "circle.go.leaders". Of course, if you count the dots or pauses, lat/lon wins pretty much every time. And even a lot of Americans can count to 10 in multiple languages. [1] http://wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Decimal_degrees http://wiki.gis.com/wiki/index.php/Decimal_degrees

ghusbands 5y ago
You seem to be forgetting that lat/long is two numbers, not just one. "Seventy six point three five two comma minus one fifty three point nine oh one" is definitely harder to work with than "circle goal leaders". Especially as you don't need to say "dot". (I do agree that the What3Words approach is flawed, both technically and commercially.)
- ryankrage77 5y ago
  Unless the person reading the words to you over the phone has a strong japanese accent, and in addition to not being sure if they're saying 'go' or 'goal', you'll also have a hard time knowing if they're saying 'leaders' or 'readers'. I can't imagine a channel of communication that's clear enough for W3W, but not clear enough for some numbers.
- gmiller123456 5y ago
  >You seem to be forgetting that lat/long is two numbers, not just one Good point, mea cupla. Though I think my point that confusion over pronunciation still trumps how many numbers you have to say.
benhurmarcel 5y ago
There's also the "Plus codes" by Google, which I understand are fully free to implement. https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/ https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/

ghusbands 5y ago

You seem to be forgetting that lat/long is two numbers, not just one. "Seventy six point three five two comma minus one fifty three point nine oh one" is definitely harder to work with than "circle goal leaders". Especially as you don't need to say "dot". (I do agree that the What3Words approach is flawed, both technically and commercially.)

ryankrage77 5y ago
Unless the person reading the words to you over the phone has a strong japanese accent, and in addition to not being sure if they're saying 'go' or 'goal', you'll also have a hard time knowing if they're saying 'leaders' or 'readers'. I can't imagine a channel of communication that's clear enough for W3W, but not clear enough for some numbers.
gmiller123456 5y ago
>You seem to be forgetting that lat/long is two numbers, not just one Good point, mea cupla. Though I think my point that confusion over pronunciation still trumps how many numbers you have to say.

benhurmarcel 5y ago

There's also the "Plus codes" by Google, which I understand are fully free to implement. https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/ https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/