foliage

[plugwash]

How do they make money?

Afaict the idea is that they get consumers hooked on w3w, then charge companies to integrate w3w into their products and services (hence why they are litigious towards reverse engineers).

How well that is working is another matter. It seems that from 2023 to 2024 they more than doubled revenue, while cutting expenses, but their expenses still massively outweigh their revenue.

 

[morqthana]

Well worth a read

https://cybergibbons.com/security-2/why-what3words-is-not-suitable-for-safety-critical-applications/


https://cybergibbons.com/security-2/why-what3words-is-not-suitable-for-safety-critical-applications/

It is.

But be warned, it's not short.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It certainly doesn't seem to always 'work'. However, as I've said, I don't think it would have been beyond the wit of man (or computers) to devise a system which was less (or not at all) undermined by single errors.

A simple check sum at the end, is all that is needed.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Again true, but I presume that would not preclude the W3W folk from 'revising' their own product.

How do they make money?

I think the sell the use of it, to commercial organisations and emergency services. Last time I checked, our local 999 refused to use it.

 

[JohnW2]

A simple check sum at the end, is all that is needed.

True - but I'm not quite sure how one would implement a checksum 'in words'

Anyway, I was musing about something a bit more clever than that - a checksum will merely indicate when there is an error, leaving one without any usable information. I was thinking more about an 'error-correcting' system, which would be 'transparent' (providing the 'correct answer') in the case of a single error.

 

[JohnW2]

I think the sell the use of it, to commercial organisations and emergency services.

That would seem to be the most obvious, but I wonder who would pay for it?

Last time I checked, our local 999 refused to use it.

Interesting. In my part of the world, 999 do use it.

 

[morqthana]

Unfortunately some of the drastically different locations can be only a few hundred metres apart and in a few cases that short distance involves a river or other obstruction.

I was standing on the cliffs near Dover once, and my phone welcomed me to a French mobile network.

That'll be handy if I need to call 112 I thought.

 

[SUNRAY]

That would seem to be the most obvious, but I wonder who would pay for it?

Interesting. In my part of the world, 999 do use it.

We have been using it within Raynet for years, I asked a contact in Kent Police 2017 if they use or planned to use it and there was a grand "err what" and tumble weed, Fire and Ambulance were looking at the time and shortly after implemented it. Police are using it now but I don't know when they started.

 

[SUNRAY]

I was standing on the cliffs near Dover once, and my phone welcomed me to a French mobile network.

That'll be handy if I need to call 112 I thought.

Not an uncommon situation, it happens the other side of the channel too.

 

[morqthana]

I bet it does. And on the USA/Canada border.

At least here '999' is more likely to be dialled than '112', but then the French network would just reject that with a recorded message in French, which is probably not what you want as your house burns, or whatever.

 

[JohnW2]

At least here '999' is more likely to be dialled than '112', but then the French network would just reject that with a recorded message in French, which is probably not what you want as your house burns, or whatever.

I don't know about that way around, but I'm pretty sure that dialling 112 in the UK will get one connected to the UK 999 emergency service number (and, I think, will get one to the 'local' national emergency services in any European country?).

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

True - but I'm not quite sure how one would implement a checksum 'in words'

It doesn't have to be in words, an easy to relay, four-digit number would show up most errors.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Any written or spoken information can be mis-typed, or misheard. But those of us with better memories should think back - not so long ago - when the way to locate Windsor Castle was with this locator information:
51.483334, -0.604167.
I rather think that W3W is a big improvement on that!

 

[bernardgreen]

It doesn't have to be in words, an easy to relay, four-digit number would show up most errors.

The mathmatics necessary to calculate the check sum would need to take acount of 40,000 words, many being homophones, the order of the words and whether words are singular or plural. very unlikely that a check sum of less than ten digits would suffice.

 

[morqthana]

We have been using it within Raynet for years, I asked a contact in Kent Police 2017 if they use or planned to use it and there was a grand "err what" and tumble weed, Fire and Ambulance were looking at the time and shortly after implemented it. Police are using it now but I don't know when they started.

///plod.bits.fool

This is the what3words address for a 3 metre square location near Luoyang, Henan.

what3words.com