RE: Mercedes introduces what3words to sat-navs
Discussion
horsemeatscandal said:
There's a certain irony in that I put my postcode in to find out my three words.
Don't see how it would be easier for sat nav users. 50 AB12 3CD is easier than 50 cement.horse.captain, surely? Some of the W3W codes also cover more than one property.
Probably missing the point.
The codes are 3m x 3m - how could they cover more than one property? Unless you're talking about apartments? There's at least 12 squares I could choose from on my driveway alone - and it's not a vast driveway by any stretch!Don't see how it would be easier for sat nav users. 50 AB12 3CD is easier than 50 cement.horse.captain, surely? Some of the W3W codes also cover more than one property.
Probably missing the point.
A Post code will get you to a street, a house number and postcode may get you to the right house, may get you to the right area or side. This will get you to the driveway, or the door, the behind the bins even.
Deliver moody.flaps.hiccup - if I'm not in leave in safe spot jesus.hairdo.horse
cookie1600 said:
Of course I can see this working well in reverse now, as a Christmas after-dinner game. Trying to come up with a valid, obscure or rude three word address on the W3W search function is relatively amusing when sober.
just.add.booze
Along similar lines, I was thinking of a comedy sketch in the mould of "I've come for an argument."just.add.booze
Prosecutor: On the night in question, is it not true that, while you claimed to be at sorry.working.late, you were in fact quite far away at drinking.lads.tarts?
Defendant: Oh, blimey, no. I told the Mrs that my intention was to get to director.salary.promotion, but I suddenly found myself at motorway.breakdown.fog.
horsemeatscandal said:
Some of the W3W codes also cover more than one property.
How?! We only live in a average 3 bed but have 14 W3Ws to choose from within our actual house structure alone (several more on drive and garden), one of them is absolutely brilliant.I'm a wedding photographer so spend a lot of time driving to village churches in the middle of nowhere, sometimes a postcode in a satnav can be Hal for a mile short of a specific property down a long country lane.
Edited by ukaskew on Thursday 14th September 21:00
ukaskew said:
How?! We only live in a average 3 bed but have 14 W3Ws to choose from within our actual house structure alone (several more on drive and garden), one of them is absolutely brilliant.
I'm a wedding photographer so spend a lot of time driving to village churches in the middle of nowhere, sometimes a postcode in a satnav can be Hal for a mile short of a specific property down a long country lane.
What I meant was, there are a few 3x3 areas that are in both mine and my neighbour's property. But I guess you just wouldn't choose one of those, would you. Didn't really think of that.....I'm a wedding photographer so spend a lot of time driving to village churches in the middle of nowhere, sometimes a postcode in a satnav can be Hal for a mile short of a specific property down a long country lane.
Edited by ukaskew on Thursday 14th September 21:00
Your example is fair enough, but surely you don't just get given the church postcode but you get the village name too? It would be difficult to NOT find somewhere you knew the name of when your were on a road only half a mile away.
I think it definitely has it's uses, but I dont think it's really any better than a postcode when used in a personal vehicle for normal sat nav stuff. Could be good fun on a road trip or something though.
So, couriers for example, would there have to be a database that shows the most appropriate W3W for every address? Wouldn't such a system rely on postcodes in the first place in order to be generated? That kinda seems a bit backwards.
I'm thinking voice controlled driverless taxis with the customer knowing their most used/favourite W3Ws.
Edit: just thought about the church thing. Obviously makes it a lot easier to find if it's a church in the arse end of knowhere and not in the centre of a village. I'm with ya.
Edited by horsemeatscandal on Thursday 14th September 21:49
horsemeatscandal said:
What I meant was, there are a few 3x3 areas that are in both mine and my neighbour's property. But I guess you just wouldn't choose one of those, would you. Didn't really think of that.....
Your example is fair enough, but surely you don't just get given the church postcode but you get the village name too? It would be difficult to NOT find somewhere you knew the name of when your were on a road only half a mile away.
I think it definitely has it's uses, but I dont think it's really any better than a postcode when used in a personal vehicle for normal sat nav stuff. Could be good fun on a road trip or something though.
So, couriers for example, would there have to be a database that shows the most appropriate W3W for every address? Wouldn't such a system rely on postcodes in the first place in order to be generated? That kinda seems a bit backwards.
I'm thinking voice controlled driverless taxis with the customer knowing their most used/favourite W3Ws.
Edit: just thought about the church thing. Obviously makes it a lot easier to find if it's a church in the arse end of knowhere and not in the centre of a village. I'm with ya.
I think you are missing the bit that says this covers the whole world to a 3 word address. For example, slowest.jurors.wolfs is an interesting place.Your example is fair enough, but surely you don't just get given the church postcode but you get the village name too? It would be difficult to NOT find somewhere you knew the name of when your were on a road only half a mile away.
I think it definitely has it's uses, but I dont think it's really any better than a postcode when used in a personal vehicle for normal sat nav stuff. Could be good fun on a road trip or something though.
So, couriers for example, would there have to be a database that shows the most appropriate W3W for every address? Wouldn't such a system rely on postcodes in the first place in order to be generated? That kinda seems a bit backwards.
I'm thinking voice controlled driverless taxis with the customer knowing their most used/favourite W3Ws.
Edit: just thought about the church thing. Obviously makes it a lot easier to find if it's a church in the arse end of knowhere and not in the centre of a village. I'm with ya.
Edited by horsemeatscandal on Thursday 14th September 21:49
horsemeatscandal said:
So, couriers for example, would there have to be a database that shows the most appropriate W3W for every address?
That's a useful question because it gets at the heart of the this uniquely powerful solution: What 3 Words is, for the most part, about user-defined outcomes rather than the directives of a centralised authority. There is no need for "a database" for couriers. Couriers (or whoever) are summoned to a precise drop-off location or to a meeting point that is determined by the user -- whether the location has a street address or not. Couriers (or whoever) are at the service of the requestor and not the other way round.
W3W turns things inside out, if you will, and gives users maximum control over place and time. The results are more than promising and, in a world heaving with hyperbole and self congratulations, truly life changing.
This is no toy. They've received loads of global awards. Blue chip organizations the world over are partnering with them.
unsprung said:
That's a useful question because it gets at the heart of the this uniquely powerful solution: What 3 Words is, for the most part, about user-defined outcomes rather than the directives of a centralised authority.
There is no need for "a database" for couriers. Couriers (or whoever) are summoned to a precise drop-off location or to a meeting point that is determined by the user -- whether the location has a street address or not. Couriers (or whoever) are at the service of the requestor and not the other way round.
W3W turns things inside out, if you will, and gives users maximum control over place and time. The results are more than promising and, in a world heaving with hyperbole and self congratulations, truly life changing.
This is no toy. They've received loads of global awards. Blue chip organizations the world over are partnering with them.
I've done some research into this project and I have to say - I agree. It's a serious and brilliantly thought out idea. There is no need for "a database" for couriers. Couriers (or whoever) are summoned to a precise drop-off location or to a meeting point that is determined by the user -- whether the location has a street address or not. Couriers (or whoever) are at the service of the requestor and not the other way round.
W3W turns things inside out, if you will, and gives users maximum control over place and time. The results are more than promising and, in a world heaving with hyperbole and self congratulations, truly life changing.
This is no toy. They've received loads of global awards. Blue chip organizations the world over are partnering with them.
To me - it's a very elegant solution to a very complex problem.
Wish I'd heard about it earlier.
unsprung said:
That's a useful question because it gets at the heart of the this uniquely powerful solution: What 3 Words is, for the most part, about user-defined outcomes rather than the directives of a centralised authority.
There is no need for "a database" for couriers. Couriers (or whoever) are summoned to a precise drop-off location or to a meeting point that is determined by the user -- whether the location has a street address or not. Couriers (or whoever) are at the service of the requestor and not the other way round.
W3W turns things inside out, if you will, and gives users maximum control over place and time. The results are more than promising and, in a world heaving with hyperbole and self congratulations, truly life changing.
This is no toy. They've received loads of global awards. Blue chip organizations the world over are partnering with them.
Agree to some extent, but that relies on knowing what your desired W3W location is. Bearing in mind this is the first I've heard of this technology, the only way I would know how to get a W3W location would be to search for the postcode on their map system, and then scroll/zoom and find the specific 3x3m square. If the location didn't have a postcode, then you'd just have to scroll/zoom to find. But how often do people want something sent to the middle of the tundra/Sahara? Therefore I'm really struggling to see what this brings over postcodes and failing that, coordinates. I'm certainly no Luddite and I'm more than happy to be proved wrong. There is no need for "a database" for couriers. Couriers (or whoever) are summoned to a precise drop-off location or to a meeting point that is determined by the user -- whether the location has a street address or not. Couriers (or whoever) are at the service of the requestor and not the other way round.
W3W turns things inside out, if you will, and gives users maximum control over place and time. The results are more than promising and, in a world heaving with hyperbole and self congratulations, truly life changing.
This is no toy. They've received loads of global awards. Blue chip organizations the world over are partnering with them.
For countries with no postcode system (not sure which countries those are, but at a guess I'd say they're mostly non-Western, non-English speaking), I don't think introducing a system that uses three seemingly random English words to specify an address or location would be really taken on board, especially as there is no clear logic to it.
I will say that I am looking at this from more a personal/consumer level, rather than on a larger scale. But it must be aimed at that level to some extent if it's being put in the car.
horsemeatscandal said:
Agree to some extent, but that relies on knowing what your desired W3W location is. Bearing in mind this is the first I've heard of this technology, the only way I would know how to get a W3W location would be to search for the postcode on their map system, and then scroll/zoom and find the specific 3x3m square. If the location didn't have a postcode, then you'd just have to scroll/zoom to find. But how often do people want something sent to the middle of the tundra/Sahara? Therefore I'm really struggling to see what this brings over postcodes and failing that, coordinates. I'm certainly no Luddite and I'm more than happy to be proved wrong.
For countries with no postcode system (not sure which countries those are, but at a guess I'd say they're mostly non-Western, non-English speaking), I don't think introducing a system that uses three seemingly random English words to specify an address or location would be really taken on board, especially as there is no clear logic to it.
I will say that I am looking at this from more a personal/consumer level, rather than on a larger scale. But it must be aimed at that level to some extent if it's being put in the car.
I'd suggest having a look at their website for a start.... some of your questions are answered there. There is an program you can download where you can translate coordinates to w3w - apparently there are multiple languages too. However I'm not sure how language conversations go - i.e. If a Spanish speaker is trying to communicate with a French speaker for example. For countries with no postcode system (not sure which countries those are, but at a guess I'd say they're mostly non-Western, non-English speaking), I don't think introducing a system that uses three seemingly random English words to specify an address or location would be really taken on board, especially as there is no clear logic to it.
I will say that I am looking at this from more a personal/consumer level, rather than on a larger scale. But it must be aimed at that level to some extent if it's being put in the car.
Initially - I was thinking about coordinates too - however 3 words does seem a little more straight forward and does reduce the chance of an error - however autocorrect may be an issue!
horsemeatscandal said:
Agree to some extent, but that relies on knowing what your desired W3W location is. Bearing in mind this is the first I've heard of this technology, the only way I would know how to get a W3W location would be to search for the postcode on their map system, and then scroll/zoom and find the specific 3x3m square. If the location didn't have a postcode, then you'd just have to scroll/zoom to find. But how often do people want something sent to the middle of the tundra/Sahara? Therefore I'm really struggling to see what this brings over postcodes and failing that, coordinates. I'm certainly no Luddite and I'm more than happy to be proved wrong.
For countries with no postcode system (not sure which countries those are, but at a guess I'd say they're mostly non-Western, non-English speaking), I don't think introducing a system that uses three seemingly random English words to specify an address or location would be really taken on board, especially as there is no clear logic to it.
I will say that I am looking at this from more a personal/consumer level, rather than on a larger scale. But it must be aimed at that level to some extent if it's being put in the car.
With a single click... the What 3 Words mobile app tells you your W3W location. And it's persistent: step into an adjacent 3x3m box... the app instantly updates your W3W location.For countries with no postcode system (not sure which countries those are, but at a guess I'd say they're mostly non-Western, non-English speaking), I don't think introducing a system that uses three seemingly random English words to specify an address or location would be really taken on board, especially as there is no clear logic to it.
I will say that I am looking at this from more a personal/consumer level, rather than on a larger scale. But it must be aimed at that level to some extent if it's being put in the car.
At any time, transmit your W3W location via SMS, email, social, etc. If you have zero network signal on your phone, the app still tells you your W3W location in real time.
Languages? W3W offers its three words in more than a dozen languages.
Spend some time with their website. See the credentials of their third-party partners.
In a way, W3W is a train which has already left the station. It is not a question mark. It is in use 24/7 by countless individuals and organisations the world over.
It's a stupid idea. Most drivers never take thier cars out of thier own country, so why go to the time, cost and complexity of installing a NAV that divides the world into 57 trillion little squares.
Aside from the obvoius point that most Mercedes drivers can't even find a supermarket car park with the f**king SatNavs they've already got, you might as well add a map of moon navigation to it while you're at it. Best to be safe eh?
Stupid, stupid, stupid. But am sure it will appeal to wealthy Mercedes prospects.
Aside from the obvoius point that most Mercedes drivers can't even find a supermarket car park with the f**king SatNavs they've already got, you might as well add a map of moon navigation to it while you're at it. Best to be safe eh?
Stupid, stupid, stupid. But am sure it will appeal to wealthy Mercedes prospects.
On a global scale postcode are not like what we have in the U.K. , at best they get you to a large area, not an individual house . The number of times I'm driving on my sat nav after entering a house no. and postcode I get the "you have arrived at your destination" to find in still 300 meters away and have to drive up and down roads spending 10 minutes to actually find the place I'm going is staggering , it will be on the other side of a hedge or something ! One flaw with this system is I guess credit card companies will have to have a record of the 3 words linked to the delivery address for security, else stolen cards could be used to get goods dropped off here there and everywhere
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff