What Three Words W3w

[Cockatoo]

Nice to see that Broads Beat are promoting What 3 Words. This is a fantastic way of letting others know your location but it does rely on the recipient knowing what the w3w mean.

 

See https://what3words.com and spread the word :)

 

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

 

 

[JanetAnne]

///undulation.woes.twigs

Seems appropriate somehow 

[RS2021]

I've got mixed feelings about What Three Words. Yes I've got it on my phone and I've used it. But.. it is the property of one organisation. If that ceases to exist, then so does W3W, unless someone else acquires it. Also you can only get it electronically. Flat battery - no three words.

We already have grid references and eastings and northings which are open source (to apply tech jargon to pre tech systems). These are freely available on many apps and GPS and, in the case of grid references, can also work from paper maps.

Is W3W successful because of great marketing, or because words are better than numbers. I remain firmly on the fence.

[Cockatoo]

I've got mixed feelings about What Three Words. Yes I've got it on my phone and I've used it. But.. it is the property of one organisation. If that ceases to exist, then so does W3W, unless someone else acquires it. Also you can only get it electronically. Flat battery - no three words.
We already have grid references and eastings and northings which are open source (to apply tech jargon to pre tech systems). These are freely available on many apps and GPS and, in the case of grid references, can also work from paper maps.
Is W3W successful because of great marketing, or because words are better than numbers. I remain firmly on the fence.

I can't argue with any of that other than ask how many fire engines or ambulances carry paper maps these days?

I deliberately didn't mention the police then because they probably won't have anyone to send anyway!

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[TheLaird]

Hmmm.  I think I'll stick with  52.06.675N     0.09.845W

Or         TL25908-- 47677    (OS grid reference).

Clive.

[TheLaird]

Additionaly, The northings etc. come up on my boats marine radio display.

Clive.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Cockatoo said:

I can't argue with any of that other than ask how many fire engines or ambulances carry paper maps these days?

We sure do, although obviously we never use them as we always know where we're going 

[grendel]

You also need a gps fix and phone signal to use it

[Smoggy]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

You also need a gps fix and phone signal to use it

So may as use lat/long or OS ref then.

[Cockatoo]

So may as use lat/long or OS ref then.

The problem with that is some don't know how to read a map.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[unclemike]

8 minutes ago, Cockatoo said:

The problem with that is some don't know how to read a map.

the problem is;-some of us can read a map but havent a clue what you lot are talking about

[RS2021]

49 minutes ago, Cockatoo said:

The problem with that is some don't know how to read a map

No that is not a problem - an app can, and does, do that for you just like W3W. All W3W does is electronically convert the location found by your phone (and be careful what accuracy setting you are using, it may give the location of the nearest cell mast you are connected to is set wrong, or even the location of an internet server if you are indoors and can't get a GPS signal) and converts it to something you can tell the emergency services (or anyone else for that matter). In the case of W3W it is three words that you can only know if you have their app. Any suitable app on your phone can also convert your location (same caveat applies on accuracy setting) to either a grid reference or latitude and longitude. If you go on Aweigh and click on help it gives you latitude and longitude directly, W3W is an alternate.

I've nothing against W3W and if people find words easier than numbers, then great. However, I do believe that using open source data is more resilient as whilst it works great electronically, it can also work without. Just get the message out there  - know how to get your location on your phone which you can give to the emergency services. I think they will be happy with any of the formats discussed.

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Thank God I don't know anything about what you lot are talking about. 

It's good to be a luddite. 

[Seagypsy]

3 hours ago, chameleon said:

the problem is;-some of us can read a map but havent a clue what you lot are talking about

I'll second you on that Mick.

[RS2021]

2 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

Thank God I don't know anything about what you lot are talking about. 

It's good to be a luddite. 

Until you are moored in the middle of nowhere and need to call the emergency services...

I was in exactly that situation when one of our crew had a suspected heart attack. We were able to call an ambulance and he was taken to hospital. Fortunately it turned out to be a false alarm. But...

[JanetAnne]

1 hour ago, RS2021 said:

Until you are moored in the middle of nowhere and need to call the emergency services...

..

What interested me was that the location I gave above was obtained using the w3w map on their website. It is the current location of Royal Tudor. The next mooring up had a different three words as did the rest of the estate. If I had needed the emergency services at that location the best they would have got up to now was the road name and postcode which would have got them to the estate but not to me, and it's a big estate to be trying to find someone at in a hurry.

 

 

[Cockatoo]

What interested me was that the location I gave above was obtained using the w3w map on their website. It is the current location of Royal Tudor. The next mooring up had a different three words as did the rest of the estate. If I had needed the emergency services at that location the best they would have got up to now was the road name and postcode which would have got them to the estate but not to me, and it's a big estate to be trying to find someone at in a hurry.
 
 

Not only different berths, if the boat is over 3m long the bow and stern will have different w3w addresses.

I completely agree with everyone that open source would be better but we still use GPS* and that isn't open source, Uncle Sam can turn that off whenever he wants!
We also rely a lot on postcodes that are neither open source nor accurate.

DCS has also been mentioned but how many Broads boaters have a DCS equipped radio compared to how many have a mobile phone. Also getting lat/long from a phone based mapping app can be a right faff.
@Jayfire interesting that you guys carry maps as well, do you (or anyone else) know if ambulances do?



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[Vaughan]

Interesting comments from both sides of the discussion. Personally I am happy that I could tell emergency services exactly where I was anywhere on the Broads, using the map which Richardsons provide on their hire boats. The same map can be bought in Lathams and elsewhere.

But then I am ex Royal Corps of Transport and they do say that there is only one thing that gets lost quicker than an Army officer with a map - and that is two Army officers with a map!

[grendel]

As I work with maps day in day out I am happy that if i have my tablet, that I could find my location to about a 20m radius (as that is the general accuracy of most phone or tablet driven GPS systems), If I had in addition my Plug in GPS antenna, I could narrow that further to about 3m. this would of course be using eastings and northings. as with my tablet on the os map data I just have to press on the current location icon to display the coordinates to 1m accuracy

[RS2021]

2 hours ago, Cockatoo said:

Also getting lat/long from a phone based mapping app can be a right faff.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one. Sat Nav and other location devices have concentrated to date on getting you to somewhere close to where you want to be. As you say post codes are very crude. Whilst any device knows where you are - even more accurately than 3m, it can often be hard to get that information out easily. W3W have recognised this gap in the market and developed an app purely to tell you where you are accurately and without faff. Any other app could, but (with the exception of Aweigh - latitudes and longitudes accurate to 1m) has not developed this feature. It would be interesting to see if other apps developed this simple feature, if W3W could survive in the market place.

Incidentally, another electronic option is google maps. Click on the menu, then location sharing, then the person you want to share with. They can now see exactly where you are without you having to tell them anything. You can even time limit your visibility to them. This is probably better suited to letting friends find you and has that advantage that if you move e.g. onto the next pub, they can still find you.

 

[grendel]

currently sitting in my office at work it is giving me an accuracy of +-21m, this could reduce with a better satellite fix as I currently only have 5 fixed, so outdoors I would expect a higher count, but in general 9m accuracy is about all you can expect from a phone.

[unclemike]

when i took ill 4 years ago ,on the broads and needed an ambulance, i gave the phone operator my location in 3 words RANWORTH STAITHE NORFOLK,  took 3 hrs to find us

[MauriceMynah]

29 minutes ago, chameleon said:

when i took ill 4 years ago ,on the broads and needed an ambulance, i gave the phone operator my location in 3 words RANWORTH STAITHE NORFOLK,  took 3 hrs to find us

Well that'll learn you to use complicated codes instead of the more simple "Maltsters"

[TheLaird]

Well I have 'Memory Map' on my 'phone.  1 in 50 and 1 ni 10 scales. OS mappinig of the whole UK. At home in doors on the 1 in 10 maps the gps location indicates which room I am in. If you gave the emergency services 3 words they will never find you.  Alternatively, you could download onto your phone the app that uses gps to tell you the post code of your location, then the emergecy services can use it on their sat-nav.

Clive.

[unclemike]

7 hours ago, MauriceMynah said:

Well that'll learn you to use complicated codes instead of the more simple "Maltsters"

the teephone operator wasn't even in nofolk, dont think she knew where horfolk was