An interesting comment.
I think you just explained it’s use case! When you need to be that much more precise - it is of course possible to be precise on a map to even 10 figs if the map scale is right. But you are right for 98% of uses W3W brings no benefit - but for the tiny number of cases where someone perhaps with no training needs to get a location and pass it verbally or in printed form to another person who will type it in to a system it is quite useful. For those 2% of cases it’s horrible that it seems to still be possible to get accidental errors, is language/country dependant, and is run by a commercial company. However if it would mean EVRI actually delivered my packages or the Deliveroo driver coming to my office would find it before the food got cold I would happily put up with it!
Notwithstanding my criticism of w3w using plural, what you are describing isn't really the usage in the case of an emergency at sea, on a mountain or wherever, when you would simply be sharing your current location.
Discussion move on!
Thanks for that genius answer. But to know which way to head along the street I’ll need to modify all my neighbours properties too, as well as finding space to attach my new house sign, and run a cable for power. All assuming of course I’m in my own home when I need an ambulance.
No that’s operator error - which shows the weakness in street address translation. If you want your actual W3W location either manually move the pin to the right place or go outside and use your phone (may work indoors depending on signal). If you call an ambulance with that address and postcode it’s possible that their sat nav takes them to that intersection then requires the crew to use Mk1 Eyeball to get find you with road signs/streetnames/numbers.
You’re lucky, on my boat sailing with my wife the best I could hope for is she’d get the sheets etc tangled whilst she hoisted the spinnaker and bore away.
I agree with you regarding the use of W3W in remote locations where someone's device can pinpoint their location to a 9m2 square assuming the device has a stable signal to work with. But there are some who have seemed to suggest that the system is infallible and I demonstrated that it is capable of making mistakes. Do you know if the W3W app has eliminated the possibility of homonyms? If not, then there is another potential source of error.
I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you are a mod. and that I wasn't allowed to discuss.
I don't understand why your neighbours' properties need your attention. If they don't have numbers and you do, then you will proudly stand out from the crowd. Unless you are living in a bird house and your street number is 7 digits I should think there is space for your number somewhere in front. For lighting try a solar light. Some of them come with rechargeable batteries, too. It's amazing what is available in the modern shops. If you aren't home when you need an ambulance we can only hope that they don't mistake "Need, help, now" for your location and do get to you before the end of the "Golden Hour".
W3W has a search entry window which prompts for "Search for any place or 3 word address e.g. 65 Alfred Road Notting Hill, London" so I'm not sure how you get "operator error" when I followed instructions and got the duff results posted previously. Ergo, the system works but is not perfect.
I’m not a mod - you seem to be upset that a conversation about getting help at sea was discussing the utility or otherwise of a tool in urban settings.
When you arrive in my street, as with many suburban streets, you have a decision of left or right and then which side of the street to look. My house is not visible from that junctions so could have flashing lights and it will make no difference. If you’ve never encountered this issue you obviously don’t try to find addresses in suburban housing estates very often.
I’m not going to post a picture of my house but there’s plenty of houses and flats where the home owner doesn’t own the communal ground in front of their door.
Fortunately ambulance service staff are smarter than you; as it seems are W3W as need.help.now is not a valid location.
if you could robustly go from a street address to a 3m x3m location there would be no need for W3W. What you are seeing is the inaccuracy of the standard address search. You can then move the point to your actual location, or if on a device with GPS ask it for your current location. The system has its faults but this isn’t one of them!
A mature response.
That might be the issue; precision.
In your humble opinion.
Nowhere in what I have posted did I say that the app doesn't work or that it hasn't got a use. I did point out that it has limitations based on the example given and I, as well as others, have the opinion that it is not a universal tool for location finding especially since it requires both "ends" of the communication chain to have immediate access to the app and that is not universal by any means. The "waste, of, time" was in reference to responding to the previous post with its rambles about finding a street address.
Nobody in this thread has suggested it was. It’s not perfect. The weaknesses are not the issues you have focussed on!
Neither end actually needs the app - you can use it offline (no internet) with the app or with an internet connection on the website. That is not universal - but no system is universal.
The example you gave - typing in not three words but an address and looking where it suggested the location - is not its w3w's purpose and to state the obvious, you didnt use three words at any point and therefore didn't use its actual functionality. The fact that you did what you did on the W3W app doesnt mean that it is an example of W3W in action, it is not.
Coming back to this…
Well said!