It is currently 29 Mar 2024, 11:13
AJB Temple wrote::text-goodpost:
He's right.
Post the location of some local scallywag instead.
I've been aware of 3 words for ages but have never found a practical use for it in real life. It was touted a lot on the motorbike group I belong to.
ScaredyCat wrote:What 3 words... just don't use it.
Biker Down recommend using it and it's just a bad idea. We'll set aside that they've burned through 14 miillion in cash for a 400k turnover or that if you took your app to France for example it wouldn't work because the dictionary is localized, and concentrate on how Flames.Shirt.Gasp said over a mobile phone is similar to Flame.Shirt.Gasp but 48 miles apart. Or that limitless.limit.less limit.less.limitless are in use, in the same country.
I mean use it to invite friend to a BBQ at your house - or give them your address like a normal. but no way use it for anything important - especially if it happens at dots.dots.dots...
RogerS wrote:Mmmm...now let me see. I'm lying in a ditch in the middle of nowhere and bleeding profusely. Broken leg and in pain. Right at this moment in time, I don't think I'd care diddly squat about their business model. Or that it might/might not work in France. Or that the three words might get misheard since I'll be sending a link with the three words in it and so not speaking. I'd just be very relieved that, thanks to What3Words, the emergency services will soon find me.
9fingers wrote:I live near the "in" end of a one way lane where all the houses have names and no numbers. For some reason most satnav postcode data bases incorrectly have our postcode centre down a close turning off our lane and further along in the direction of traffic so it is a PITA giving direction to strangers to my house.
I usually have to email them saying "as soon as you enter the lane, ignore your sat nav and stop immediately after the second lamp post and you will be outside our house".
I've yet to try it but giving one of the many 3 word codes seems to be so much easier and I cannot see how that either gives any commercial gain to the company or puts me at any disadvantage and will save my visitors doing circuits along the lane, phoning me and me standing on the driveway, waving my arms like an idiot.
Bob
Sheffield Tony wrote:If you have an accident in the middle of nowhere and use your mobile to make an emergency call, your phone (Android for sure using Google ELS, I imagine Apple do the same) sends your location automatically. Unless you have turned it off.
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RogerS wrote:Sheffield Tony wrote:If you have an accident in the middle of nowhere and use your mobile to make an emergency call, your phone (Android for sure using Google ELS, I imagine Apple do the same) sends your location automatically. Unless you have turned it off.
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In case anyone wants to check, it's in Settings > Location. It uses the Fused Location Provider but, just like W3W needs a good GPS signal. And a mobile signal to make the call ! Accuracy is about 3m if the GPS is good.
As an aside, the muppets, who designed the s/w for the Google Nest camera, use only the mobile masts to triangulate your position. Doh In a marginal reception area, your location is all over the place as the mobile signal strength keeps changing.
TrimTheKing wrote:...the inbuilt system requires a good GPS signal and a mobile signal. Well without both of those you ain’t sending a W3W link to anyone...
TrimTheKing wrote:RogerS wrote:Sheffield Tony wrote:If you have an accident in the middle of nowhere and use your mobile to make an emergency call, your phone (Android for sure using Google ELS, I imagine Apple do the same) sends your location automatically. Unless you have turned it off.
...
In case anyone wants to check, it's in Settings > Location. It uses the Fused Location Provider but, just like W3W needs a good GPS signal. And a mobile signal to make the call ! Accuracy is about 3m if the GPS is good.
As an aside, the muppets, who designed the s/w for the Google Nest camera, use only the mobile masts to triangulate your position. Doh In a marginal reception area, your location is all over the place as the mobile signal strength keeps changing.
I don’t disagree with your example earlier Rog, but in this message you have “hoist yourself with your own petard” again. As you correctly state, the inbuilt system requires a good GPS signal and a mobile signal. Well without both of those you ain’t sending a W3W link to anyone...
Let’s all agree that it’s good, but not perfect and no better or worse than a GPS coordinate, other than it might be a bit easier (except on those occasions when it isn’t!)
spb wrote:Just to play devil's advocate: in most cases, a reliable data connection requires a stronger signal than a phone call, which in turn requires a stronger signal than sending an SMS. It's absolutely possible to be in a situation where you could send a message with three words in it, but a voice call would be sketchy and anything relying on a data connection wouldn't work at all.
RogerS wrote:That's why W3W can send a text ...doesn't need 3G. As Mark now knows ....tee hee
spb wrote:RogerS wrote:That's why W3W can send a text ...doesn't need 3G. As Mark now knows ....tee hee
Right, whereas Google's ELS might be using SMS or data depending on how your mobile network decided to set it up. If it's over data, it's entirely possible that W3W might work even when the automatic location reporting doesn't.
When it comes to things like emergency use, I think saying "don't use this" isn't really helpful. "Don't rely on this exclusively," yes, but the more options you have available the better the chance that one of them will work. If you're out in the wilds, always have a backup, and a backup to the backup; having a couple of extra apps on your phone is a no-brainer when seen in that context.
spb wrote:When it comes to things like emergency use, I think saying "don't use this" isn't really helpful. "Don't rely on this exclusively," yes, but the more options you have available the better the chance that one of them will work. If you're out in the wilds, always have a backup, and a backup to the backup; having a couple of extra apps on your phone is a no-brainer when seen in that context.
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