What3words

Author
Discussion

Saleen836

Original Poster:

11,111 posts

209 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Is a new app that they save can save lives, the reason I have posted it in here is the news article it is linked too....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49319760

Has common sence been lost completely now? Surely anyone with half an ounce of sence wouldn't even dream of going on a 5 mile walk in the evening without a little planning! There is a compass on the i-phone but obviously none of them know what that is for rolleyes

texaxile

3,290 posts

150 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Our Bedroom is "no.fun.here"

Dave.

7,360 posts

253 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Another thread here from a few years ago....

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

It was brought to my attention by an article in the local rag where someone had crashed their car in a remote spot, w3w got the first responders to the scene.

Dave.

7,360 posts

253 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
texaxile said:
Our Bedroom is "no.fun.here"
PH Towers is hamsters.need.feeding wink

Drumroll

3,756 posts

120 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Not everyone is in favour of it.

https://www.facebook.com/scottishmountainrescue/

Initforthemoney

743 posts

144 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Saleen836 said:
Has common sence been lost completely now? Surely anyone with half an ounce of sence......
Irony overload!


Edited by Initforthemoney on Wednesday 21st August 21:52

Randy Winkman

16,131 posts

189 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Drumroll said:
Not everyone is in favour of it.

https://www.facebook.com/scottishmountainrescue/
Do they really say that? Either way, there are lots of places people could run into trouble and not be able to describe where they are. For instance a car crash on an unfamiliar country lane.

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Randy Winkman said:
Do they really say that? Either way, there are lots of places people could run into trouble and not be able to describe where they are. For instance a car crash on an unfamiliar country lane.
This could work for that then, free from a world leader.
https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/about/news/2014/o...

Brads67

3,199 posts

98 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
Saleen836 said:
Is a new app that they save can save lives, the reason I have posted it in here is the news article it is linked too....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-49319760

Has common sence been lost completely now? Surely anyone with half an ounce of sence wouldn't even dream of going on a 5 mile walk in the evening without a little planning! There is a compass on the i-phone but obviously none of them know what that is for rolleyes
Why on earth would anyone need planning for a 5 mile walk.?

Have folk lost all common sense? Do we all need our hands held to get through the day?.

Anyway, getting lost is half the fun.

surveyor

17,818 posts

184 months

Wednesday 21st August 2019
quotequote all
The mountain rescue thread is ridiculous.

First of all I support that people should be prepared.

But some scenarios...

1. on a mountain injured and in pain. Scratchy mobile signal. What is easier - trying to get over a 6 or 8 figure OS ref, or three words.

2. Same mountain. No mobile reception. Oops. You are screwed.

3. On the way to the mountain in an unfamiliar area. You come across a crash. Scratchy mobile reception again...

I inspect telephone masts - often in remote areas. I think it's a great idea, and have downloaded the app.

andy_s

19,400 posts

259 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
surveyor said:
The mountain rescue thread is ridiculous.

First of all I support that people should be prepared.

But some scenarios...

1. on a mountain injured and in pain. Scratchy mobile signal. What is easier - trying to get over a 6 or 8 figure OS ref, or three words.

2. Same mountain. No mobile reception. Oops. You are screwed.

3. On the way to the mountain in an unfamiliar area. You come across a crash. Scratchy mobile reception again...

I inspect telephone masts - often in remote areas. I think it's a great idea, and have downloaded the app.
If you've no reception, you've no contact, whatever the app.

I just use the map itself, or OS app if you've no map, and txt/vox. [Have done in a real situation]. The solution already existed.

In more general life (road accident etc) for someone who hasn't a clue about maps etc, then it's not a bad idea.

tangerine_sedge

4,774 posts

218 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
Its a closed source commercial offering. There seem to be a drip feed of these stories through out the year acting as free advertising....

There is a free to use simple, very accurate, common world wide standard already in place, so to suggest changing to a commercial and closed system is madness.

Still, these advertising stories will continue to crop up every 6 months or so.

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
Drumroll said:
Not everyone is in favour of it.

https://www.facebook.com/scottishmountainrescue/
They're a bit daft then, as most people have absolutely no idea how to get a grid reference.

If they need a 1mx1m fix and can't find someone in 3mx3m then I worry about their usefulness

Bill

52,749 posts

255 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
keirik said:
They're a bit daft then, as most people have absolutely no idea how to get a grid reference.

If they need a 1mx1m fix and can't find someone in 3mx3m then I worry about their usefulness
The whole 1x1m fix thing is a red herring as it needs an 8 figure grid ref. At best they'll be working to a 10x10m square (6 figure ref) of where someone thinks they are. Currently the most accurate position they'll get is GPS, which needs converting anyway.

I do get their point that you really shouldn't be out on the hills without a good idea of map and compass use, but there's a lot of stupid out there.

FWIW I've downloaded both w3w and OS locate. smile

phil4

1,215 posts

238 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
As it's a private company behind it, there'll be some money motive at some point... whether that's charging organisations like the police, mountain rescue, or something else, it'll be there once they've got enough traction.

Yes, grid refs are the "proper" way to do it, and yes, you really should be better prepared before wondering off into the wilderness. That said, it's -very- user friendly so practically anyone can use it without training.

Jobbo

12,972 posts

264 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
It's only usable with an app so entirely reliant on a battery. There's no logic to it, unlike grid references where you can tell if somewhere is north-east of you; you have no idea where fondle.otters.pocket is relative to upturn.full.bucket.

So it's proprietary and not logical without a device running software. There must be some money behind it because it's being advertised fairly heavily currently but surely the only reason to spend money is for a return? I'll stick to grid refs, thanks, and simply use a map on my phone if I've got that with me.

Riley Blue

20,955 posts

226 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
andy_s said:
surveyor said:
The mountain rescue thread is ridiculous.

First of all I support that people should be prepared.

But some scenarios...

1. on a mountain injured and in pain. Scratchy mobile signal. What is easier - trying to get over a 6 or 8 figure OS ref, or three words.

2. Same mountain. No mobile reception. Oops. You are screwed.

3. On the way to the mountain in an unfamiliar area. You come across a crash. Scratchy mobile reception again...

I inspect telephone masts - often in remote areas. I think it's a great idea, and have downloaded the app.
If you've no reception, you've no contact, whatever the app.

I just use the map itself, or OS app if you've no map, and txt/vox. [Have done in a real situation]. The solution already existed.

In more general life (road accident etc) for someone who hasn't a clue about maps etc, then it's not a bad idea.
I downloaded the OS Locate app as recommended by Scottish Mountain Rescue, stepped outside and used it to 'pinpoint' my position then emailed the six-figure reference to myself. I clicked on the e-mail link to open the OS map and location in the browser on my laptop - it shows my position as being about 100 metres away from where I am, around a corner in a different street.

What3words, by comparison, is accurate to within a few feet.


Jakg

3,463 posts

168 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
Jobbo said:
here's no logic to it, unlike grid references where you can tell if somewhere is north-east of you; you have no idea where fondle.otters.pocket is relative to upturn.full.bucket.
This is, though, by design.

Imagine you live at flat 3, 26, 7 gardens road - it's easy to mixup those numbers and be very close but very lost. Or even 51.2653, -1.4316.

With this system if you do make a mistake, even a small one - you likely be thousands of miles out and it'll be very clear it's incorrect.


Zirconia

36,010 posts

284 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
Been aware of this for sometime and have it just in case but really no one should be on the hills without a map, compass and the ability to read and navigate. It is very easy. Might not need the app then.


surveyor

17,818 posts

184 months

Thursday 22nd August 2019
quotequote all
Jakg said:
This is, though, by design.

Imagine you live at flat 3, 26, 7 gardens road - it's easy to mixup those numbers and be very close but very lost. Or even 51.2653, -1.4316.

With this system if you do make a mistake, even a small one - you likely be thousands of miles out and it'll be very clear it's incorrect.
For my instructions I take from our acquisition guys lat long, which translates onto a map on my system. They get it wrong a lot. Missing the - is a favourite, as are typo's.