I read about What 3 Words a few years ago and thought it was pointless – I was wrong.
First you should know what it is. It divides the surface of our planet into 57 trillion squares of 3 x 3 metres. Using, in English, just 40,000 words it assigns each square a three word identifier. I thought this was amazing but pointless. Right now thirty-five English and Welsh emergency services are paying to use the app. Business and high volume users subscribe but it’s free for everyone else.
So why would it be useful to us? Frankly, if my terraced house in London is on fire I will give the fire brigade my address. But suppose my cousin asked me to join him on his boat at a remote mooring? He could send me the OS coordinates but how much simpler and less liable to error to send me three words. Suppose you want to report an abandoned car to the police? Just 3 words. Here’s what Gloucestershire Police say.
Everywhere is included, your farm buildings, the old dissused (sic) pheasant pens, the remotest areas of the deserts and rain forests, they are all covered. 70 (sic) trillion squares in total cover the globe.
Various law enforcement agencies world wide use this, postal services, medical providers and so on.
Gloucestershire Police have seen the benefits of using this and have been experimenting with it over the last year. We are confident this can transform how we react to incidents, reaching them with more accuracy and efficiency. Everyone singing of (sic) the same hymn sheet and doing away with OS grid reference numbers, longitude and latitude references, post codes and so on.
The 3 words for my home earth are jets. warden. circumvent. Mercedes is the first car maker to install the app as part of its navigation system. I don’t think it will be used in urban locations but I think it will be indispensable for those in peril on land and sea, or if you just want to pinpoint your friends’ tent at a music festival.
I wonder what the three words are for 10 Downing Street? slurs.this.shark. I couldn’t have made it up. My music choice today doesn’t reflect my political opinion. I like it because of the way the zombie audience dance and, best of all, the indubitably bouncy tune – bring it on Cliff.
Yes, I too am a recent convert to this technology and I can absolutely see the point of it for solo mountain walkers and the like.
My home location, much to my surprise (and amusement), is revealed by the following three word combo: rats.jazz.dishes.