As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Why would you crowdfund if you are definitely going to make millions?
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Right, that makes sense. What were they offering in return for the cash?
Two takeaways from the first three minutes of the R4 6 o' clock news.
a) Zahawi has an "oven ready" programme for the CoL crisis. "Oven ready", what could possibly go wrong?
b) Truss "I didn't say that!" With reference to "no hand outs". Didn't she?
Is the oven, electric, gas or oil fired?
has enough fuel been purchased for it to be switched on in September or will we have run out before then?
Also bear in mind that most mains gas ovens (and quite a few gas hobs) won’t work if there’s no power. They have electric safety valves, designed to stop gas leaks or suicide by gas.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
Okay.
So I live at alpha.bravo.charlie, and you live at x-ray.yankee.zulu - how do I get from your house to mine, using only w3w technology?
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Why would you crowdfund if you are definitely going to make millions?
Additional Working capital to allow them to expand quicker?
I humbly suggest that if three-word addresses were going to conquer the world, they would have done so by now. It's not like it's relying on future advances in AI, regulatory capture, or a network that's costly to defect from, like the really big tech firms.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Right, that makes sense. What were they offering in return for the cash?
You have now bitterly criticised What 3 Words for multiple entirely different rationales, 1. that it is only doing something Google Maps already does., or 2. because it is rubbish and no better than a folding map, compass and protactor and pencil, and monocle, or 3. That it is a brutally litigious company and evil, or 4. That they stole the original idea ANYWAY, and now we have 5. That it is tiny and failing and makes no profit so nurr
This is not a logical response, some of these are contradictory. This is pure emotion
I can only conclude you are a Jealous Tech Bro, consumed with envy that you didn't think of this, and lashing out thereby
Ignoring fact I never mentioned anything about physical maps let me make it clear what my objections are: It is a bad implementation of an OK idea. Their PR is dangerously deceptive and to compensate for their bombastic PR and poor implementation they use their VC money to squash dissent via lawyer threats.
"OK idea"
lol
Let's look at your issue
A delivery firm can't find you - but who pays to get the W3W for the exact location - you when you tell the delivery firm where to go or the delivery firm when they translate W3W back to an actual location?
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
They have a year and a half of cash in hand at current burn rate at the latest accounts
You have some personal, bitter hatred for them. I suggest we desist as it's not good for your blood pressure
I'm sorry factual statements about their financials hurt you so much.
You what? I'm not "personally hurt" that they are burning money as they initially grow, this is what every successful tech company has done for three decades. If I am hurt, it is that I failed to invest in them myself!
My excuse is that I was distracted by Covid and aliens, so I only heard about them yesterday, like a boomer twit
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
Okay.
So I live at alpha.bravo.charlie, and you live at x-ray.yankee.zulu - how do I get from your house to mine, using only w3w technology?
The app automatically links through to Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, and others
But this is not its primary purpose. It is not trying to BE Google Maps. It is trying to find things and people exactly, anywhere on the globe, down to a precise tiny spot, in seconds - making life much easier in multiple ways
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
you don't have to go to each 3 m square of glen to check, because you are just putting your own very simple 3m lattice overlay on the grid by which GPS has jointly decided to look at the world - WGS 84 I think it's called. Your 6 fig GR is much less accurate at 100 m squares AND has no error correction:453697 makes neither more nor less sense to look at than any of the 6! or whatever combinations it is possible to make of those digits, whereas if the message is trouser.fart.octopus there's only 3 or 4 possible variants outside of which you know you are getting it wrong.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Right, that makes sense. What were they offering in return for the cash?
I genuinely wish them the best of luck. I hope they make it. They must be aiming for an industry buyer - or just to grow organically into something huge. It is a very interesting idea. I had never heard of them before today.
This is Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings in the studio doing the final take of a song called Answer Me (awesome ringtone BTW!), mostly featuring Sharon and bassist/head of the label Gabe Roth
They made an old Brooklyn townhouse into an amazing analogue recording studio
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
you don't have to go to each 3 m square of glen to check, because you are just putting your own very simple 3m lattice overlay on the grid by which GPS has jointly decided to look at the world - WGS 84 I think it's called. Your 6 fig GR is much less accurate at 100 m squares AND has no error correction:453697 makes neither more nor less sense to look at than any of the 6! or whatever combinations it is possible to make of those digits, whereas if the message is trouser.fart.octopus there's only 3 or 4 possible variants outside of which you know you are getting it wrong.
I get that - but how does one get the right code? Seee point made to Leon.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
How about Hotel.Eilean.Iarmain.Isleornsay
That tells me what it is as well as where it is. I could get there from the Flatlands without an app or paper map of any kind, albeit my it would take about 10 hours (my guess, not Google's).
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
you don't have to go to each 3 m square of glen to check, because you are just putting your own very simple 3m lattice overlay on the grid by which GPS has jointly decided to look at the world - WGS 84 I think it's called. Your 6 fig GR is much less accurate at 100 m squares AND has no error correction:453697 makes neither more nor less sense to look at than any of the 6! or whatever combinations it is possible to make of those digits, whereas if the message is trouser.fart.octopus there's only 3 or 4 possible variants outside of which you know you are getting it wrong.
I get that - but how does one get the right code? Seee point made to Leon.
Mate, download the app. You'll be able to work it out
I see that the iOS app has 155,000 reviews and 4.8 stars. People love it
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
Why couldn't Starmer offer precisely the same? And, I too don't discount a Tory/SNP deal. Puts PR off the table for the foreseeable.
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
As often in these hypotheticals, the problem to my mind is not what happens in Scotland but what happens in England *immediately* on those MP figures. Given SNP policy of not intervening in English politics, English politics would be deadlocked already before anyone had time to worry about Scotland, with a Lab-LD coalition outvoting the Tories in England.
Evening all. Its urgent but not Keir coming back from holiday urgent. Its urgent but not shorten the pointlessly long leadership campaign urgent. So September we will see one of the most important budgets of recent times. I anticipate the right wing press are already planning a 'here comes the cavalry' campaign and the left a 'too little too late' one. Im increasingly of the opinion some sort of nationalisation of the energy industry and energy production will be required, Truss has slready made noises on agriculture that leads me to suspect she will go down a self sufficiency 'for Britain' style economic route. Maybe globalisation is a busted flush, corporate futures always get portrayed as dystopian after all. Then again, maybe im hopecasting. My vote is going to the closest offer to the above. Unless its labour, lol.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
Okay.
So I live at alpha.bravo.charlie, and you live at x-ray.yankee.zulu - how do I get from your house to mine, using only w3w technology?
The app automatically links through to Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, and others
But this is not its primary purpose. It is not trying to BE Google Maps. It is trying to find things and people exactly, anywhere on the globe, down to a precise tiny spot, in seconds - making life much easier in multiple ways
So there’s no actual technology behind the company, merely a database of co-ordinates.
Any value they might have, is in getting Google and Apple in a bidding war to deny their users to the other.
Meanwhile, Google and Apple have their own short codes for locations, and w3w is a sometimes-useful curio.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
It relies on GPS not signal
"What if I don’t have signal or data?
You will need phone signal to call 999 – what3words cannot pass location information directly to the emergency services.
You can find your current location on the what3words app, even if you don’t have phone signal or a data connection. Bear in mind that without data, the map won’t load, but your location will still update when you tap the ‘Locate me’ icon."
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
Why couldn't Starmer offer precisely the same? And, I too don't discount a Tory/SNP deal. Puts PR off the table for the foreseeable.
Though a Tory/SNP deal would be a wet dream for Starmer and Labour and the LDs it will rightly never happen
Hands up who thinks what3words is better than a postal address for locating a house?
I’m not a Post office techie or anything but surely there is scope that the Post Office or similar licence it and use it along with addresses for more accurate sorting than postcodes.
If the scanning machines just have to read the three words to sort then the Postie picks up his bag of post for houses in this.argument’s.stale and reads the addresses on his round.
It’s just increasing accuracy and parcelling up (pun not intended) of post for specific areas.
Little improvements can end up making big differences.
Getting your official spokesperson to describe Rishi Sunak as a socialist does nothing except demonstrate that you are unhinged.
So Sunak is a remainer socialist...... Guessing we are not getting truth back post Boris then!
Truss is going to try to be like Johnson but can't be because only he can do it. What comes naturally to him will just seem demented coming from her. He didn't care if no-one believed him. She will. When she seeks to explain her inevitable energy payments u-turn by saying she didn't u-turn it is going to be almost unbearable to watch.
An underrated but very useful talent for leaders is to u-turn and bend in the wind whilst presenting as being strong and unyielding. The lady that is not for turning probably turned quite a bit.
Truss may naturally find that harder to manage with her personal style, but also faces the problem of making really extravagant promises in a period which will make delivering very difficult, and u-turning very obvious.
But that's precisely what she hasn't done. She hasn't got into a handout bidding war with Sunak over energy bills, she has stated firmly that her instincts are against handouts and in favour of tax cuts, but left the option of targeted handouts on the table. I see that as the responsible thing to do.
There's a very peculiar set of circumstances whereby the energy companies are set to make higher profits (Why? When your raw material increases vastly in price, how do your profits rise?) by vastly increasing bills having consolidated the industry so there's very little competitiveness in the market. Windfall taxes don't address this, they only encourage more profit taking by the industry to sheild itself from them. I am not sure what the answer is, but I don't think Rishi has it.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
Yes of course there is, cellphone coverage differs wildly from 4G coverage, especially in marginal (mountainous/uninhabited) areas and it is very realistically possible that you have enough intermittent 4G to get a w3w location which you can then commit to memory for when you revert to phone coverage only. Your hypothetical idiot is more likely to do that than fish out a paper OS map, realise vis is too poor to take a bearing, work out where he is by dead reckoning from last known good position, remember whether it is up first or across, and relay the resulting 6 numbers to mountain rescue, I'd have thought.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
It relies on GPS not signal
"What if I don’t have signal or data?
You will need phone signal to call 999 – what3words cannot pass location information directly to the emergency services.
You can find your current location on the what3words app, even if you don’t have phone signal or a data connection. Bear in mind that without data, the map won’t load, but your location will still update when you tap the ‘Locate me’ icon."
Thanks. That's it. GPS makes a difference. Though I'd always have an OS map - and a paper one - rather than rely on anything with a battery that could be dropped or get wet.
I just love the fact that whoever it was decided to divide the entire world into three metre squared parcels and then devised a way to give each one of them a unique three word name. That shows a bigness of mind and thought that deserves some kind of success! I don't know if it will make them a fortune, but it is a great idea and one that other smart people will surely find interesting ways to use. Crowdfunding looks to be exactly the way to generate the cash required to keep it going until the Eureka moment drops. I really hope it does.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
It relies on GPS not signal
"What if I don’t have signal or data?
You will need phone signal to call 999 – what3words cannot pass location information directly to the emergency services.
You can find your current location on the what3words app, even if you don’t have phone signal or a data connection. Bear in mind that without data, the map won’t load, but your location will still update when you tap the ‘Locate me’ icon."
Thanks. That's it. GPS makes a difference. Though I'd always have an OS map - and a paper one - rather than rely on anything with a battery that could be dropped or get wet.
He is neck and neck with Lizzie n Rich in the Most Useless Twat in the Country stakes. But I am sure his position on Nandy is being refined by the hour.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
You've been fighting ghosts for about 6 hours now.
I think it's great, especially for meeting up with a date in a crowd (it's like that train station clock in London everyone meets at). And, if I'd been smart,100% would've invested in it.
But the company is a bit shit cos they advertise it as a mountain rescue tool. And the selfless, handsome, fit bastards who risk their lives to rescue people like me (but more likely, you) from hills have made it crystal clear they want a grid reference. #trusttheexperts
Otoh, I just use WhatsApped shared location function. Which has the benefit of being spatial, follows you moving around, and can have multiple people on it. Did earlier finding gf at the fringe
They're really not marketing it as a rescue tool - at least not now, AFAICS. This is sensible, as multiple news stories are doing all the marketing they need in that area
"UK emergency services encourage public to download life-saving app What3Words"
They are mainly marketing it to car companies for on-board navigation, and also courier and delivery companies
And yes, when I next - fool that I am - get lost in the Cairngorms I will be sure to have an Ordnance Survey map to hand, and a magnifying glass, so I can give the rescue services a proper grid reference with 38 digits, not some silly three word thingy that I can easily remember which gives them my location to the nearest tree
It's actually two letters and six digits ... and I learned how to read a NGR off a map when I was about 11.
This three word thingy, does it really work in the far glens of Scotland? And to what accuracy?
Yes, it really works
"Here is a precise what3words address, made of 3 random words. Every 3 metre square in the world has its own unique what3words address.
///bland.cowering.spots is inside the public bar of Eilean Iarmain, by the slot machine: that's a brilliant pub in Isle Ornsay on the Sleat peninsula in Skye, which looks out to Knoydart
Note the specificity. It isn't a bit of road, or a section of village, or a house number, it is a 3sq m space inside that bar, by the crisps
I don't doubt it is allocated: but if I am some idiot in shorts, t-shirt and plimsolls, out on the Lairig Ghru or the path over from Loch Scresort to the road, and I fall and break a leg, how do I know what three words to give the rescue services if the signal is crap? And is the crapness of the signal directly in proportion to that needed to ring 999 and ask for the mountain rescue? Obviously, if there is no signal at all, then it doesn't matter whether three-words app is working. But is there a nimbus or rather halo where one could phone the rescue services but the app doesn't work?
It relies on GPS not signal
"What if I don’t have signal or data?
You will need phone signal to call 999 – what3words cannot pass location information directly to the emergency services.
You can find your current location on the what3words app, even if you don’t have phone signal or a data connection. Bear in mind that without data, the map won’t load, but your location will still update when you tap the ‘Locate me’ icon."
Thanks. That's it. GPS makes a difference. Though I'd always have an OS map - and a paper one - rather than rely on anything with a battery that could be dropped or get wet.
Best stay home, really
You misunderstand. Quite happy to have a mobey on outings as well, but woiuld never go without a proper paper map, that's all.
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
Why couldn't Starmer offer precisely the same? And, I too don't discount a Tory/SNP deal. Puts PR off the table for the foreseeable.
Well, Labour (or to be more precise the centre-left unionist wing of the Labour Party) and the SNP loathe each other more than the SNP and the Tories do. So on that basis I suppose a Tory-SNP deal is more probable.
Not a lot of money in mountain rescue, and usually the remote areas attract people who have local expertise and knowledge that obviates techy hacks. It's not exactly Deliveroo relying on a mass market and expendable low-information porters.
I just love the fact that whoever it was decided to divide the entire world into three metre squared parcels and then devised a way to give each one of them a unique three word name. That shows a bigness of mind and thought that deserves some kind of success! I don't know if it will make them a fortune, but it is a great idea and one that other smart people will surely find interesting ways to use. Crowdfunding looks to be exactly the way to generate the cash required to keep it going until the Eureka moment drops. I really hope it does.
This is a really excellent interview with the genius bloke behind it (paywall, tho)
He and his mates had the fantastic idea, alpha to omega, in about an hour, but then they needed loooong months of hard graft to realise it
As you say, the idea is so cool and clever it deserves to succeed by itself. And it will be a genuine boon to people in poorer countries where "postal addresses" are an aspiration or a fiction
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well want STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
Today I learned that a surprising number of people on PB are really fucking dumb
You’ve done this before. Just because people look at evidence and come to a different conclusion to you, doesn’t make them stupid, or idiots etc. At least you’ve moved on from calling us idiots for not believing the UAP flap is anything more than the latest Flying Saucers, UFO, little green men flap.
Today I learned that a surprising number of people on PB are really fucking dumb
You’ve done this before. Just because people look at evidence and come to a different conclusion to you, doesn’t make them stupid, or idiots etc. At least you’ve moved on from calling us idiots for not believing the UAP flap is anything more than the latest Flying Saucers, UFO, little green men flap.
No, there is honest debate and then there are people who cannot understand a new idea out of stupidity; or because they don't WANT to understand it - because they dislike it, fear it, envy it, whatever? - which is another kind of stupid, to my mind
However, you are correct to spot that I am being rude, perhaps unnecessarily. So I shall go to the gym and work off my appetite for argument. Good day to all PB-ers
Truss has been all over the news and the right wing press have proclaimed her the next Mother Theresa so it’s not surprising she’s doing okay in the polling against Starmer .
I'm putting up an alternative political scenario which doesn't fit into your universe so you deride it and have a pop at the messenger.
Fair enough - you're a one-dimensional hack who, apart from posting Scottish sub-samples ad infinitum and ad nauseam for years has only demonstrated your complete lack of understanding of how politics actually works.
As a self-avowed member of the centre right, why not think this through a little before sounding off?
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well meant STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
The moral claim begins with being able to count to 65. If you don't have that, no referendum. I suggest that walking into Conservative Noe lobbies on a dozen Labour amendments every autumn will send the SNP down to 30-40 seats for the foreseeable, even if it's just rUK benefits they are voting to cut.
My mental model is that the SNP wants independence, a good deal, and then whatever. Hegemony is new to them and I don't think they care except that it gives them opportunities for independence. Many rUK people don't seem to share that mental model. I wonder why.
Truss has been all over the news and the right wing press have proclaimed her the next Mother Theresa so it’s not surprising she’s doing okay in the polling against Starmer .
Nobody believes that though. She's a bit crap, but possibly less so than Sunak. (For the avoidance of doubt Starmer is a bit crap too, and Davey quite considerably so)
Hands up who thinks what3words is better than a postal address for locating a house?
Jesus Christ. Me. Because it is
Wrong.
Due to things like earthquakes and continental drift the what3word square of people's homes has already shifted in just a few years.
There's a reason we don't use GPS coordinates over semantically meaningful names already.
don't be utterly bloody silly. Where does most navigation take place (etymological clue in name)? do we say "North Atlantic" or "Indian Ocean" because that's semantically meaningful, and ignore all that lat n long shit?
It is just an overlay on WGS 84 anyway, so the earthquake problem in your head affects all of GPS as much as it affects w3w; that is, not at all.
I have climbed almost all the munros North of the Great Glen, many of them in bad vis and before GPS was invented, and have accurately caused helicopters to land on Dartmoor in the right place to pick up injured riders, and yachts to proceed out of sight of land and then to their intended destinations. Not a fan of Appeals to Authority, esp one's own, but there's an awful lot of ill informed theory in the air tonight.
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well meant STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
The moral claim begins with being able to count to 65. If you don't have that, no referendum. I suggest that walking into Conservative Noe lobbies on a dozen Labour amendments every autumn will send the SNP down to 30-40 seats for the foreseeable, even if it's just rUK benefits they are voting to cut.
My mental model is that the SNP wants independence, a good deal, and then whatever. Hegemony is new to them and I don't think they care except that it gives them opportunities for independence. Many rUK people don't seem to share that mental model. I wonder why.
Don't forget there will be a Holyrood election along in 2026, too (in theory earlier if certain things happened). So the SNP, and the Scottish branch offices of the Unionist parties, will have an eye to that as well. The SNP don't need to worry about what voters in rUK constituencies think, at least as a first approximation.
I’m not a Post office techie or anything but surely there is scope that the Post Office or similar licence it and use it along with addresses for more accurate sorting than postcodes.
If the scanning machines just have to read the three words to sort then the Postie picks up his bag of post for houses in this.argument’s.stale and reads the addresses on his round.
It’s just increasing accuracy and parcelling up (pun not intended) of post for specific areas.
Little improvements can end up making big differences.
The Post Office already have a code system designed to work for their use case -- it's the post code. If they wanted improved efficiency or narrower addressing accuracy they could easily extend it (eg optional extra letter on the end). Half the issues with post codes are because everybody *else* uses them, not because of what the Post Office does with them.
"3m square" is massively over-precise for addressing post, and "nearby areas are totally unrelated codes" is a disadvantage if you're trying to make it easy to sort for a single post round (obviously machines don't care, but humans end up looking at these things too from time to time).
Hands up who thinks what3words is better than a postal address for locating a house?
Jesus Christ. Me. Because it is
Wrong.
Due to things like earthquakes and continental drift the what3word square of people's homes has already shifted in just a few years.
There's a reason we don't use GPS coordinates over semantically meaningful names already.
don't be utterly bloody silly. Where does most navigation take place (etymological clue in name)? do we say "North Atlantic" or "Indian Ocean" because that's semantically meaningful, and ignore all that lat n long shit?
It is just an overlay on WGS 84 anyway, so the earthquake problem in your head affects all of GPS as much as it affects w3w; that is, not at all.
I have climbed almost all the munros North of the Great Glen, many of them in bad vis and before GPS was invented, and have accurately caused helicopters to land on Dartmoor in the right place to pick up injured riders, and yachts to proceed out of sight of land and then to their intended destinations. Not a fan of Appeals to Authority, esp one's own, but there's an awful lot of ill informed theory in the air tonight.
W3W is good for other things too, I have my father in laws grave in my index now. It took me and Mrs Foxy 2 hours to find it last time. The problem is that woodland cemeteries grow.
Useful too for addresses out in the country, where houses are not numbered and postcodes can be very large areas. Also for meeting up at large festivals etc.
Still on holiday. Doing an interview on Saturday IIRC.
Drakeford and Sturgeon the only ones at work.
This week. I’m sure they will take their own holidays.
Not so sure. Sturgeon has no children. Drakeford has three.
She’ll still take a holiday. We all sh!t on politicians enough, they’re allowed a week or two away somewhere in the summer. Those currently in office will be reachable in an emergency.
As for how W3W makes money, that's an interesting question
But one obvious way is advertising on the app. If everyone in the world downloads the app then that's 8bn pairs of eyes on one app, and tiny fleeting ads will still make huge money
And of course you could tailor the ads to where people are going
Are you looking for ///octupus.scarlet.bra ? You know there's a lovely restaurant 3 yards from here that just got a rave review? Here's a new cheaper supermarket. This bar next door has a happy hour
You could even direct info to people inside buildings
"Yes, it's nice in that corner of the bar (///fake.dildo.knapper) but we also have a beer garden, which is empty right now"
I remember when I first saw Vivino I thought "wow, this is so clever, but how on earth do they make cash?" - of course a couple of years later they started selling their own recommended wines. Easy, really
The W3W business model is to license the tech to everyone for very low rates, and to get everyone hooked on it. Later, when it is ubiquitous, they raise the cost per lookup from 0.1c to 3c (or whatever).
I don't foresee any likelihood they will be able to dethrone Google Maps, nor would they want to try. That's absurdly expensive, people will only use one mapping app, and traffic info is more useful than the three word thing.
They expressly say they are trying to complement Google Maps, not compete with it
Another part of its genius (I'll stop in a minute) is the way it sells itself. There are endless news stories like this (from Canada, four days ago):
"A woman was belaying with a group of climbers at the base of a 70-foot cliff near the Buffalo Crag Lookout when a falling rock struck her. Early reports indicate the rock caused an injury to her arm, ribs and head.
"The area is in a remote section of the park, along a dirt trail more than one kilometre away from the nearest road and the resulting rescue took an estimated two hours. Police, firefighters and EMS all responded, and were able to locate the injured woman using the newly rolled out what3words app."
Everyone will want this app. Literally, everyone. Just in case. It *could* become as ubiquitous as Uber, or even bigger (if Google doesn't try to crush them)
You do know know that this has been around for years, even though you’ve just discovered it today?
You’re like the 13-year-old boy who just found out there’s porn on the internet.
I presume you invested heavily back in 2017, then, and you are now sitting on a profit of several million quid?
Nope, becuase:
1. In 2017, I didn’t have two beans to rub together, trying to get my own business off the ground.
2. Like so many of the last decade’s VC-funded tech startups, it’s difficult to see how they ever plan to turn a profit, nor what is their business model, beyond hoping the next sucker buys in at a higher price and the wages keep getting paid.
Their VC investors will be hoping they are bought by Google or other tech giant. That will almost certainly happen, hence the crazy valuation sans profits, unless there is some kind of technical or intellectual property problem between now and then.
Yes, they’ll be hoping that Google and Apple get in a bidding war to make their open system proprietary.
Sadly, that point may have passed, at least for the next year or two. The only tech M&A activity happing now is distress sales, as the VC investors can’t bear to see writedowns on their valuations.
How would you make an open system proprietary, though? There is no patent protection you can get and there are no trade secrets you can rely on.
Uber cannot patent its genius idea - ridesharing with GPS on smartphones (as we can see from competitors like Bolt, Lyft and so on)
Yet Uber is worth $17B
There is value in simply being first with a great idea, even if people then copy it
W3W will be hoping this applies to them. If they continue with rapid growth then they will soon become the default global model for this (2-3 years?) and it will be very difficult to challenge (indeed harder than challenging Uber, maybe)
Yep, I guess that makes sense. But they need to keep finding the cash to burn.
They recently did a crowdfund asking for £1m. They got £4m after 24 hours and now have £8m. You cannot invest any more, it is oversubscribed. They are drowning in money
Right, that makes sense. What were they offering in return for the cash?
Appears to be something called a convertible loan, to be converted into shares at a later date. I think that means they get to pay you zero interest and then convert the loan into shares at a later date, when they hope the company will be valued more, and so they effectively sell you shares at a premium to their current value. But I'm just guessing based on what I found on the web.
My excuse is that I was distracted by Covid and aliens, so I only heard about them yesterday, like a boomer twit
This is the bit that I don't understand - how the hell have you only just heard about it? I'm sure that I remember it being talked about on here about 3 years ago and these same arguments went back and forth. It's so ubiquitous it was used as a pretty integral plot point in The Undeclared War (Channel 4 Russian Cyber drama series) - so if it's being used in Channel 4 drama series it certainly isn't 'new' or 'up and coming' - which suggests that a fair number of people have looked at it, used it a few times and gone 'meh - useful occasionally' and moved on.
Personally I think that it has its place - and is a nice idea. (The glastonbury tent location is a good example) - but it could have been SOOO much more useful with a bit of thought which is a bit frustrating.
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well want STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
If there's a referendum on the back of a Tory-SNP deal, No will win by an landslide and the SNP will get dumped out of office by SLAB at the following Scottish Parliament elections. Much of the reason SLAB collapsed to begin with was because 'Labour got into bed with the Tories' in 2014. If Sturgeon signals she'd be willing to a deal with the Tories if Labour won't, then I think they'll just tell her to go ahead and do it if she dare. Labour would win a landslide at the next general election (while recovering both in Scotland and in the Red Wall), so it works out really nicely for them.
Serious political discourse at a massive capital city civic event, at a time when parliament is not sitting anyway, is not "work" for the FM?
OK
Going off to a festival to chat, probably for a fee rather than being in the office or doing an official visit or meeting does not count as work no
Of course, you don't know anything about Scotland. 'Going off to a festival' for what IS an official visit seen to support a major programme of events means less than a quarter of an hour's walking from the official residence to the venue in question.
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well want STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
If there's a referendum on the back of a Tory-SNP deal, No will win by an landslide and the SNP will get dumped out of office by SLAB at the following Scottish Parliament elections. Much of the reason SLAB collapsed to begin with was because 'Labour got into bed with the Tories' in 2014. If Sturgeon signals she'd be willing to a deal with the Tories if Labour won't, then I think they'll just tell her to go ahead and do it if she dare. Labour would win a landslide at the next general election (while recovering both in Scotland and in the Red Wall), so it works out really nicely for them.
At the risk of channeling @HYUFD, there’s no way the Tory backbenchers support an independence referendum for Scotland.
The possibilities are that no-one will work with the SNP, the DUP will support the Tories, and the LDs might go with confidence-and-supply with Labour, but not a formal coalition. There’s quite a big landing zone of no possible government, which leads to a second election with a likely Lab majority or Lab/LD arrangement.
I see from your avatar that you’ve officially anointed the new leader of the English.
I acknowledge key figures contributing to the movement for Scottish self-governance. FM Truss has already earned her place.
The opposite, she has made clear she will never allow indyref2 on her watch as PM
One of the reasons that Liz Truss is a key figure contributing to the movement for Scottish independence is that she has made clear she will never allow indyref2.
I see from your avatar that you’ve officially anointed the new leader of the English.
I acknowledge key figures contributing to the movement for Scottish self-governance. FM Truss has already earned her place.
The opposite, she has made clear she will never allow indyref2 on her watch as PM
I think someone ought to sit down with you and explain we have got the message, that you think the Tories would never allow indyref under the current or likely next incumbent. Why don't you post on somethijng more novel such as the engineering design and merits thereof of Warship diesel-electrics?
I see from your avatar that you’ve officially anointed the new leader of the English.
I acknowledge key figures contributing to the movement for Scottish self-governance. FM Truss has already earned her place.
As I said, hardcore Scottish Nationalists much prefer the Tories to Labour. The prospect of a Labour government maintains support for the union, while the Tories are just useful idiots.
I see from your avatar that you’ve officially anointed the new leader of the English.
I acknowledge key figures contributing to the movement for Scottish self-governance. FM Truss has already earned her place.
The opposite, she has made clear she will never allow indyref2 on her watch as PM
I think someone ought to sit down with you and explain we have got the message, that you think the Tories would never allow indyref under the current or likely next incumbent. Why don't you post on somethijng more novel such as the engineering design and merits thereof of Warship diesel-electrics?
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
I think it would revive SLAB and guarantee a unionist majority in Holyrood forever. Even worse than losing a referendum - giving up the moral claim to have one.
"Moral claim" - I have no clue what that means, in politics it means absolutely nothing. Let's not forget - the defeat in 2014 didn't break the power of the SNP - it enhanced it. What will the political impact of a referendum victory - whither (or indeed wither) the SNP? UKIP achieved its purpose and ceased to exist - the SNP might do the same.
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well want STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
If there's a referendum on the back of a Tory-SNP deal, No will win by an landslide and the SNP will get dumped out of office by SLAB at the following Scottish Parliament elections. Much of the reason SLAB collapsed to begin with was because 'Labour got into bed with the Tories' in 2014. If Sturgeon signals she'd be willing to a deal with the Tories if Labour won't, then I think they'll just tell her to go ahead and do it if she dare. Labour would win a landslide at the next general election (while recovering both in Scotland and in the Red Wall), so it works out really nicely for them.
Er, you're completely forgetting the Scottish Greens. Markedly larger than the LDs and a very likely repository for dissatisfied pro-indy votes. Slab are very firmly Unionist, anyway. And the next Holyrood election would be along soon, anyway.
I’m not a Post office techie or anything but surely there is scope that the Post Office or similar licence it and use it along with addresses for more accurate sorting than postcodes.
If the scanning machines just have to read the three words to sort then the Postie picks up his bag of post for houses in this.argument’s.stale and reads the addresses on his round.
It’s just increasing accuracy and parcelling up (pun not intended) of post for specific areas.
Little improvements can end up making big differences.
The Post Office already have a code system designed to work for their use case -- it's the post code. If they wanted improved efficiency or narrower addressing accuracy they could easily extend it (eg optional extra letter on the end). Half the issues with post codes are because everybody *else* uses them, not because of what the Post Office does with them.
"3m square" is massively over-precise for addressing post, and "nearby areas are totally unrelated codes" is a disadvantage if you're trying to make it easy to sort for a single post round (obviously machines don't care, but humans end up looking at these things too from time to time).
Fair enough - I’m sure in some way a more accurate system could and probably will be used, just as everyone stops sending letters, but my quick and unthought out point was that a lot of these small things ,which people deride as pointless initially, sometimes end up being applied to an existing situation and improving it massively.
Tiny changes in factory equipment that people say “don’t need that, there’s a human watching the line” and then they find that the scanner that detects the bad nuts and arranges a jet of air to blow it off the line.
It can work in hand with other things - we didn’t get rid of texts when WhatsApp arrived etc - people use different things for different things.
Leon can use bring.a.bottle to identify his party location.
Carnyx can use other systems to get Prince William to swoop down in a helicopter to rescue him.
Everyone’s happy.
Edit - sorry, it might not have been Carnyx using it for mountain trekking - maybe Eabhal?
Special Kherson Cat on twitter reporting from his sources on the Russian losses yesterday: bit more than ten!
"7m One of the largest 🇺🇦 telegram media, referring to its internal sources, writes about such 🇷🇺 losses at Saky airport in Crimea. https://t.me/UAonlii/34939
Hands up who thinks what3words is better than a postal address for locating a house?
Jesus Christ. Me. Because it is
Wrong.
Due to things like earthquakes and continental drift the what3word square of people's homes has already shifted in just a few years.
There's a reason we don't use GPS coordinates over semantically meaningful names already.
OK. Reason number 6 that What3Words is useless
BECAUSE CONTINENTAL DRIFT IS MOVING THE WORLD
Yes, it is indeed a well known and longstanding problem for GPS based addressing systems (what3words is a GPS based addressing system)
If what3words were offering a solution then that would be super novel and cool.
They aren't.
OK, in your own time:
please estimate to the nearest millennium
1. how long it will take for the w3w for the front door of 23 Railway Cuttings to refer to the front door of 21 or 25 RC, assuming an orientation of RC which minimises the length of this time;
2. how many further millennia will be required before the confusion potentially caused afte the period in the answer to 1. above is not resolved by marking 21, 23 and 25 as 21, 23 and 25 respectively?
I’m not a Post office techie or anything but surely there is scope that the Post Office or similar licence it and use it along with addresses for more accurate sorting than postcodes.
If the scanning machines just have to read the three words to sort then the Postie picks up his bag of post for houses in this.argument’s.stale and reads the addresses on his round.
It’s just increasing accuracy and parcelling up (pun not intended) of post for specific areas.
Little improvements can end up making big differences.
The Post Office already have a code system designed to work for their use case -- it's the post code. If they wanted improved efficiency or narrower addressing accuracy they could easily extend it (eg optional extra letter on the end). Half the issues with post codes are because everybody *else* uses them, not because of what the Post Office does with them.
"3m square" is massively over-precise for addressing post, and "nearby areas are totally unrelated codes" is a disadvantage if you're trying to make it easy to sort for a single post round (obviously machines don't care, but humans end up looking at these things too from time to time).
Fair enough - I’m sure in some way a more accurate system could and probably will be used, just as everyone stops sending letters, but my quick and unthought out point was that a lot of these small things ,which people deride as pointless initially, sometimes end up being applied to an existing situation and improving it massively.
Tiny changes in factory equipment that people say “don’t need that, there’s a human watching the line” and then they find that the scanner that detects the bad nuts and arranges a jet of air to blow it off the line.
It can work in hand with other things - we didn’t get rid of texts when WhatsApp arrived etc - people use different things for different things.
Leon can use bring.a.bottle to identify his party location.
Carnyx can use other systems to get Prince William to swoop down in a helicopter to rescue him.
Everyone’s happy.
Edit - sorry, it might not have been Carnyx using it for mountain trekking - maybe Eabhal?
No, I was indeed concerned about relying solely on it. But the discussion has been illuminating.
That’s the best-case scenario, using all the accounting tricks in the book.
The only people buying and selling are the retail investors (you and I), the institutional investors and VCs can’t bear to have to crystallise their losses.
How on earth has Uber spent $26 billion? It's an app that runs a minicab office, scaled up a bit.
By running the Minicabs at a loss so that they were cheapest to get everyone using them. The oldest gag in the minivan game.
Then when they got Full Self Driving* working, they dump the drivers, keep the prices and make infinite profit.
Comments
https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/what3words2/pitches/Z5k8Aq
So I live at alpha.bravo.charlie, and you live at x-ray.yankee.zulu - how do I get from your house to mine, using only w3w technology?
A delivery firm can't find you - but who pays to get the W3W for the exact location - you when you tell the delivery firm where to go or the delivery firm when they translate W3W back to an actual location?
Vaguely on topic - I don't discount a Conservative-SNP coalition after the next election.
Before all the partisans on both sides start venting - this is politics, remember. Do the SNP really think they can force Starmer to offer them an independence referendum as a condition for their support? Let's assume they can - the problem for the SNP is it's a risk - what happens if they lose again? What happens if they win?
Here's an alternative scenario - the SNP offer a minority Conservative administration at Westminster but the quid pro quo is further and extended devolution - what could be called IINO - Independence In Name Only. Everything up to Independence without actual Independence - complete and unrestricted tax-raising powers for Holyrood, autonomy on all matters and a guarantee from the Conservatives the money will keep on flowing (essentially it's the deal the DUP got from May).
The Conservatives get to govern the UK and keep the integrity of the Union while the SNP get all the benefits of running their own country without any of the actual problems or issues.
Starmer has the same problem as Sturgeon - what happens if the Independence vote passes? What happens if it doesn't?
My excuse is that I was distracted by Covid and aliens, so I only heard about them yesterday, like a boomer twit
But this is not its primary purpose. It is not trying to BE Google Maps. It is trying to find things and people exactly, anywhere on the globe, down to a precise tiny spot, in seconds - making life much easier in multiple ways
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MfsylN5Kw Take 1
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5AmvQu7hd4 Take 2
That tells me what it is as well as where it is. I could get there from the Flatlands without an app or paper map of any kind, albeit my it would take about 10 hours (my guess, not Google's).
I see that the iOS app has 155,000 reviews and 4.8 stars. People love it
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/what3words/id657878530
And, I too don't discount a Tory/SNP deal.
Puts PR off the table for the foreseeable.
So September we will see one of the most important budgets of recent times. I anticipate the right wing press are already planning a 'here comes the cavalry' campaign and the left a 'too little too late' one.
Im increasingly of the opinion some sort of nationalisation of the energy industry and energy production will be required, Truss has slready made noises on agriculture that leads me to suspect she will go down a self sufficiency 'for Britain' style economic route. Maybe globalisation is a busted flush, corporate futures always get portrayed as dystopian after all.
Then again, maybe im hopecasting. My vote is going to the closest offer to the above. Unless its labour, lol.
Any value they might have, is in getting Google and Apple in a bidding war to deny their users to the other.
Meanwhile, Google and Apple have their own short codes for locations, and w3w is a sometimes-useful curio.
"What if I don’t have signal or data?
You will need phone signal to call 999 – what3words cannot pass location information directly to the emergency services.
You can find your current location on the what3words app, even if you don’t have phone signal or a data connection. Bear in mind that without data, the map won’t load, but your location will still update when you tap the ‘Locate me’ icon."
https://support.what3words.com/en/articles/4498978-how-do-i-use-what3words-in-an-emergency-uk-only
If the scanning machines just have to read the three words to sort then the Postie picks up his bag of post for houses in this.argument’s.stale and reads the addresses on his round.
It’s just increasing accuracy and parcelling up (pun not intended) of post for specific areas.
Little improvements can end up making big differences.
There's a very peculiar set of circumstances whereby the energy companies are set to make higher profits (Why? When your raw material increases vastly in price, how do your profits rise?) by vastly increasing bills having consolidated the industry so there's very little competitiveness in the market. Windfall taxes don't address this, they only encourage more profit taking by the industry to sheild itself from them. I am not sure what the answer is, but I don't think Rishi has it.
Due to things like earthquakes and continental drift the what3word square of people's homes has already shifted in just a few years.
There's a reason we don't use GPS coordinates over semantically meaningful names already.
He is neck and neck with Lizzie n Rich in the Most Useless Twat in the Country stakes. But I am sure his position on Nandy is being refined by the hour.
BECAUSE CONTINENTAL DRIFT IS MOVING THE WORLD
You live and learn.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/can-what3words-revolutionise-the-way-we-navigate-the-world-tt0706nnv
He and his mates had the fantastic idea, alpha to omega, in about an hour, but then they needed loooong months of hard graft to realise it
As you say, the idea is so cool and clever it deserves to succeed by itself. And it will be a genuine boon to people in poorer countries where "postal addresses" are an aspiration or a fiction
So God speed to them
The sworn nemesis of w3w
Conversely, losing again will politically strengthen the SNP but it's dominant now so why rock the boat? As I've argued on here, the status quo suits all sides.
IF we get a Hung Parliament, Sturgeon will go into any negotiations with (presumably) Truss and Starmer publicly arguing for another referendum but privately, I think, her support will be contingent on what Holyrood can get in terms of money and power.
Let me put Davey in Sturgeon's place. IF the LDs do well enough to be the kingmakers again, Davey may well want STV for all elections without a referendum but he knows he won't get it. Sturgeon knows she doesn't need promises of a referendum to get what she wants in terms of governing.
https://twitter.com/NicolaSturgeon/status/1557385735443021829?s=20&t=W1smPvsmtX36UvtHdiRk5w
However, you are correct to spot that I am being rude, perhaps unnecessarily. So I shall go to the gym and work off my appetite for argument. Good day to all PB-ers
Fair enough - you're a one-dimensional hack who, apart from posting Scottish sub-samples ad infinitum and ad nauseam for years has only demonstrated your complete lack of understanding of how politics actually works.
As a self-avowed member of the centre right, why not think this through a little before sounding off?
My mental model is that the SNP wants independence, a good deal, and then whatever. Hegemony is new to them and I don't think they care except that it gives them opportunities for independence. Many rUK people don't seem to share that mental model. I wonder why.
It is just an overlay on WGS 84 anyway, so the earthquake problem in your head affects all of GPS as much as it affects w3w; that is, not at all.
I have climbed almost all the munros North of the Great Glen, many of them in bad vis and before GPS was invented, and have accurately caused helicopters to land on Dartmoor in the right place to pick up injured riders, and yachts to proceed out of sight of land and then to their intended destinations. Not a fan of Appeals to Authority, esp one's own, but there's an awful lot of ill informed theory in the air tonight.
"3m square" is massively over-precise for addressing post, and "nearby areas are totally unrelated codes" is a disadvantage if you're trying to make it easy to sort for a single post round (obviously machines don't care, but humans end up looking at these things too from time to time).
OK
Useful too for addresses out in the country, where houses are not numbered and postcodes can be very large areas. Also for meeting up at large festivals etc.
Personally I think that it has its place - and is a nice idea. (The glastonbury tent location is a good example) - but it could have been SOOO much more useful with a bit of thought which is a bit frustrating.
If Sturgeon signals she'd be willing to a deal with the Tories if Labour won't, then I think they'll just tell her to go ahead and do it if she dare. Labour would win a landslide at the next general election (while recovering both in Scotland and in the Red Wall), so it works out really nicely for them.
The possibilities are that no-one will work with the SNP, the DUP will support the Tories, and the LDs might go with confidence-and-supply with Labour, but not a formal coalition. There’s quite a big landing zone of no possible government, which leads to a second election with a likely Lab majority or Lab/LD arrangement.
Approx ratio 80:20
If what3words were offering a solution then that would be super novel and cool.
They aren't.
Presumably, if that were the case, it would need to be declared somewhere?
I’d have assumed that Dale was getting the ‘gate’ for his interviews in Edinburgh, otherwise why would he be there?
Important news: woman opposite me on the train has just poured a pack of Maltesers into a full packet of salt and vinegar Discos.
M/F
https://twitter.com/jimconey/status/1557428068771307522
I'll never get his out of my mind. Prepare for a letter from my lawyers
https://twitter.com/stephenpollard/status/1557428528366362630
Tiny changes in factory equipment that people say “don’t need that, there’s a human watching the line” and then they find that the scanner that detects the bad nuts and arranges a jet of air to blow it off the line.
It can work in hand with other things - we didn’t get rid of texts when WhatsApp arrived etc - people use different things for different things.
Leon can use bring.a.bottle to identify his party location.
Carnyx can use other systems to get Prince William to swoop down in a helicopter to rescue him.
Everyone’s happy.
Edit - sorry, it might not have been Carnyx using it for mountain trekking - maybe Eabhal?
"7m
One of the largest 🇺🇦 telegram media, referring to its internal sources, writes about such 🇷🇺 losses at Saky airport in Crimea. https://t.me/UAonlii/34939
📍8 SU-27
📍6 Mi-8,
📍5 SU-24
📍4 SU-30M
📍1 ІL-20RT
📍4 ammunition depots"
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1557429484080570368?cxt=HHwWgIC9laf3jJ0rAAAA
please estimate to the nearest millennium
1. how long it will take for the w3w for the front door of 23 Railway Cuttings to refer to the front door of 21 or 25 RC, assuming an orientation of RC which minimises the length of this time;
2. how many further millennia will be required before the confusion potentially caused afte the period in the answer to 1. above is not resolved by marking 21, 23 and 25 as 21, 23 and 25 respectively?
In your own time.
Then when they got Full Self Driving* working, they dump the drivers, keep the prices and make infinite profit.
*Yes, LOL
https://www.lindt.co.uk/lindt-excellence-dark-sea-salt-bar-100g