Author Topic: Alternative addressing  (Read 2549 times)

Offline AndyT

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Alternative addressing
« on: December 12, 2016, 07:19:51 AM »
Now, here's a thing:

What3Words

This frankly brilliant idea is currently in use in Mongolia, and as of this week is being adopted by Ivory Coast.  How about that then, penpeople?  No more house numbers, postal codes and bizarrely long street names: just a name and three words to write.  Think of the calligraphic possibilities.  :)

For a longer write up, here's an article from The Atlantic.

Offline Jamie

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2016, 10:54:11 AM »
Well Im a fan. This sounds super cool - but how do we get postal services to adopt it?

Offline prasad

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2016, 11:14:40 AM »
Love this, and this is my address ........
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Offline Bianca M

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2016, 12:35:58 PM »
Client envelope addressing would be so. much. faster.  ;)

Offline Ergative

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2016, 12:53:09 PM »
That's an awesome idea for postal delivery but it's not going to replace regular directions.

A. "Hey, you should come over tonight for games!"

B. "Yeah, that'd be fun. Where do you live?"

A. "I'm at turkey gallbladder nylon."

Unless everyone has a smart phone and can look up where turkey gallbladder nylon is, it's not going to replace "Go south on Lafayette past the library, turn right on Friar St. and it's three buildings down on the left, apartment 5."
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Offline Jamie

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2016, 01:09:23 PM »
That's an awesome idea for postal delivery but it's not going to replace regular directions.

A. "Hey, you should come over tonight for games!"

B. "Yeah, that'd be fun. Where do you live?"

A. "I'm at turkey gallbladder nylon."

Unless everyone has a smart phone and can look up where turkey gallbladder nylon is, it's not going to replace "Go south on Lafayette past the library, turn right on Friar St. and it's three buildings down on the left, apartment 5."

That's true, but I don't think that's it's main intent. It's more for long distance delivery especially to places with poor addressing structure where local directions is currently the only thing that can be relied on.

And while you may need a smartphone to have the app, they made the app useable without internet so you wouldn't need data to make it useful.

Offline AnasaziWrites

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2016, 05:08:35 PM »
Interesting.
Due to the fineness of the grid, My address changes depending on what part of the house (or yard) I'm in.

Offline AndyT

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2016, 05:41:36 PM »
Indeed: the sides of the squares are about 10 feet.  Whilst the system is ideal for locating a yurt in the Gobi desert, it certainly has its shortcomings - with skyscrapers, for instance.  All the same, the basic idea is so simple and elegant that it's rather delightful. 

I was reminded of all those old envelopes addressed to "C P Zaner, Columbus, O".  Short addresses = artistic opportunities.

Offline Jamie

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2016, 07:18:21 PM »
For skyscrapers or any multi-floor building, I would think you'd still need a floor/door number to get the letter to the right place, but it'd still be a heck of a lot less to write.

And I like that the fine-ness gives you a bit of choice in your address. But to be the most useful for deliveries I feel like you should be picking either the square where your mailbox sits or your front door - a way to tell postal workers where you'd prefer they leave packages.

Offline Salman Khattak

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Re: Alternative addressing
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2016, 02:46:16 PM »
This is really nothing more than an easier to remember (and write) coordinate system. The translation to street level information still needs to happen in order to actually use the information as an address e.g. how to get to it, route planning etc. The code itself does not give you any information about placement (country/city/street) or proximity (all codes for buildings on Parkway Forest Drive) or even building address since a single building can cover multiple 3-word code units.

It sounds cool but is really only useful for a few very specific uses IMO.

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