Re:What3Words – The Algorithm
by NelsonMinar on Monday May 03, 2021 @12:30PM
(#27027107)
Japan has a perfectly functioning addressing system that works more or less like street numbers. It seems complex to outsiders, sure, but somehow this advanced country seems to get along just fine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_addressing_system
Postal codes aren't addresses in most places; they're an overlay system on top of addresses to make it easier for the post office to route mail. They're great! And there's absolutely no reason why a country should pay eternal rent to What3Words to use their proprietary code system when they can develop their own.
In Japan, for e.g. there are no street numbers.
In the U.K. we have postal codes that generally refer to a street. But they sometimes can be only a portion of a street, sometimes they’re a building, sometimes they’re a large business who might be across multiple sites. At other times (usually rural) they’re very very long roads, so sticking the address into a Sat Nav takes you to that road but not the point on the road that you want to travel to. Because the system is so mixed, 99/100 nthe address is absolutely fine, but occasionally it isn’t. I agree dropping a pin is more useful though.
Ireland had no postal codes at all until recently.