On 22/11/2019 23:50, David wrote:

*Why you should listen*

It's a fundamental logistical problem: not everyone, or everywhere, has
a traditional address, and GPS coordinates can be tough to use. While
working in the music industry, Chris Sheldrick noticed that bands and
equipment kept getting lost on the way to gigs, and he took up the
mission to create a better addressing system for the world. He worked
with a mathematician friend to devise the what3words algorithm that has
named every 3-metre square in the world. Started in 2013, the system is
being used by eight national postal services, and has a range of
integration partners across the world in fields as varied as
humanitarian aid, logistics, and in-car navigation.

https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_shel...place_on_earth


Chris Sheldrick is providing a precise and simple way to talk about
location, by dividing the world into a grid of three-meter by
three-meter squares and assigning each one a unique three-word address.

Sounds like a brilliant idea...until you stop to think about it for two
seconds. In fact it is a stupid idea.

My home, when split into 3x3meter squares, would have around 10
'addresses', some of which fall partially outside of my property.

When you examine the ten 3-word 'addresses' for the property, you would
have NO clue they belong to the same physical property.

Get one letter wrong in any of the words, and your GPS might take you to
the other side of the planet. Now would you like to order an Uber?