What.Three.Words

[Jobbo]

Aside from the undertone of schadenfreude in this thread, have I missed something about them struggling or going under? They've been going for 10 years, and have a core global audience that probably far exceeds 100m people, which is more than most businesses. Seems like a perfectly viable opportunity unless there's some news about them which I haven't seen.

well their accounts on companies house show a £16m loss on 2020 and a £43 million loss in 2021…

Would love to find out how 2022 and 2023 went - I can see COVID hitting them hard when nobody left home so the 2021 figure may not be representative.

[Gavster]

Aside from the undertone of schadenfreude in this thread, have I missed something about them struggling or going under? They've been going for 10 years, and have a core global audience that probably far exceeds 100m people, which is more than most businesses. Seems like a perfectly viable opportunity unless there's some news about them which I haven't seen.

well their accounts on companies house show a £16m loss on 2020 and a £43 million loss in 2021…

Okay, I had missed something, thanks for sharing that! Not a good look for them!

[Rich B]

Aside from the undertone of schadenfreude in this thread, have I missed something about them struggling or going under? They've been going for 10 years, and have a core global audience that probably far exceeds 100m people, which is more than most businesses. Seems like a perfectly viable opportunity unless there's some news about them which I haven't seen.

well their accounts on companies house show a £16m loss on 2020 and a £43 million loss in 2021…

Okay, I had missed something, thanks for sharing that! Not a good look for them!

don't get me wrong, I didn't know that was the case til I just looked it up. The basic idea seemed massively flawed as a business model to me.

It seems like they've had some investment from big players, but I wonder how much of that is just these big companies scared of missing out on some new tech just in case they get caught napping like they did when Tesla snuck up and stole their lead on electric tech.

[Mito Man]

Maybe I’m underestimating it but the tech behind it doesn’t seem that impressive. It’s no ChatGPT is it, just the world map divided into squares with 3 random words assigned. It feels like the kind of thing apple or google could implement within a few weeks but as they haven’t bothered in the past however many years it’s been I assume it’s not worth the effort.
Another telling this is when was the last time you ordered something online which asked for a W3W reference? I’ve never come across it.

[Swervin_Mervin]

And I still can't get my head around its purpose when you already have lat/long, or country-specific grid reference systems. It's a less logical solution to a problem that already has a perfectly logical solution.

[Jobbo]

It seems like they've had some investment from big players, but I wonder how much of that is just these big companies scared of missing out on some new tech just in case they get caught napping like they did when Tesla snuck up and stole their lead on electric tech.

It might have investment from big companies but still seems to go to the market - mostly venture capital and crowdfunding: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization ... financials

[Rich B]

It seems like they've had some investment from big players, but I wonder how much of that is just these big companies scared of missing out on some new tech just in case they get caught napping like they did when Tesla snuck up and stole their lead on electric tech.

It might have investment from big companies but still seems to go to the market - mostly venture capital and crowdfunding: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization ... financials

that £63m will be the convertible loan notes referred to on their accounts? This whole passage of text sounds terrifying to me!

[Jobbo]

Sounds like a right house of cards to be honest. I was expecting that they'd quietly disappear gradually when I posted yesterday but now I'm not so sure

[Simon]

And I still can't get my head around its purpose when you already have lat/long, or country-specific grid reference systems. It's a less logical solution to a problem that already has a perfectly logical solution.

Not exactly user friendly numbers are they? It'd be like giving out IPs instead of proper fully qualified domain names when directing people to websites (the technical nuance of that statement doesn't need clarifying from the rest of the geeks here).

[Rich B]

You don't need to give out long/lat coordinates, you just drop a pin on google maps and share it. By default you need a smart phone to generate and decipher what scrotum.lamppost.knee means, so why not just use google maps like a normal person.

[DeskJockey]

If you're sharing your location with someone online I get it, but isn't the idea that when you're doing it over the phone (say if calling the emergency services from a location you're not overly familiar with) it is easier to say W3W itch.scratch.sniff rather than trying to describe the seventh lamp post behind the shop off that road you can't remember the name of.

Yes, you could also look on Google Maps, but that's not as quick to pin (no pun intended) down.

[mik]

I’ve used the w3w location for the middle of my driveway several times over the last couple of years to direct people to me. Not the postman or DPD etc, but other couriers/workmen. I haven’t had to log in as I confined these 3 words TO MEMORY (in a way that I would struggle to do for our grid ref).

I haven’t had any other use for it however.

[nuttinnew]

I can imagine it useful with new builds.

Close, maybe where the factory is; https://what3words.com/rich.beep.shorts

[Rich B]

Yes, you could also look on Google Maps, but that's not as quick to pin (no pun intended) down.

Hold finger on location, press share button, choose which format to share it on (WhatsApp/email/text)... how much quicker can you get?

[jamcg]

You don’t get they joy of finding out that ///tunnel.passes.strain is the code for my bathroom

[IanF]

Actually, I could see them being useful for drone deliveries/landings. So I didn’t know this was a thing but.. google has plus codes: 8 alphanumeric codes that accurately give your location. Similar, but possibly easier to mess up on a phone call.

https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/

[Rich B]

Actually, I could see them being useful for drone deliveries/landings. So I didn’t know this was a thing but.. google has plus codes: 8 alphanumeric codes that accurately give your location. Similar, but possibly easier to mess up on a phone call.

https://maps.google.com/pluscodes/

you're not going to be placing drone orders by phone though are you. There'll be an app with a button like there is for everything else - Amazon/Deliveroo/Uber etc won't send a drone out based on what it thinks you said the three words were over the phone - way too open to mistakes - one misinterpreted/misheard word and your biriani could be sent to the wrong country.

[DeskJockey]

Yes, you could also look on Google Maps, but that's not as quick to pin (no pun intended) down.

Hold finger on location, press share button, choose which format to share it on (WhatsApp/email/text)... how much quicker can you get?

Difficult to do while on a call though. And if you're in a stressful situation saying three words you've read a second ago is easier than the other option.

If you're sharing through an app, then yes, it is just as quick.

[Rich B]

Yes, you could also look on Google Maps, but that's not as quick to pin (no pun intended) down.

Hold finger on location, press share button, choose which format to share it on (WhatsApp/email/text)... how much quicker can you get?

Difficult to do while on a call though. And if you're in a stressful situation saying three words you've read a second ago is easier than the other option.

If you're sharing through an app, then yes, it is just as quick.

you still have to open an app etc to generate your 3 words.

I tried to look at one earlier and typed it into google on my phone. I then realised I don't have location services turned on for safari, so couldn't get them. What a ballache.

[DeskJockey]

Hold finger on location, press share button, choose which format to share it on (WhatsApp/email/text)... how much quicker can you get?

Difficult to do while on a call though. And if you're in a stressful situation saying three words you've read a second ago is easier than the other option.

If you're sharing through an app, then yes, it is just as quick.

you still have to open an app etc to generate your 3 words.

I tried to look at one earlier and typed it into google on my phone. I then realised I don't have location services turned on for safari, so couldn't get them. What a ballache.

You do. But unlike in Google Maps it tells you your three word location as soon as it has established your location, no further action required.

I agree it is a niche product that looks financially perilous for the investors, but I can see a use case when it comes to sharing accurate location information outside of an app in stressful situations.