GET lost! This is not an instruction, dear reader, merely an inevitable consequence of our reliance on sat navs and postcodes.
Last week, I had to go to a hotel in Warrington, Cheshire, for an overnight stay. Nothing grand, you understand, but rather a stop-off for a rest, as I am not getting any younger.
What should have been a piece of cake to achieve turned into a bit of a mission. As I left my beautiful Scottish home to travel south, I entered the Warrington postcode for the hotel and set off, facing a few hours of sheer delight on the M6.
I was recently heard to say that the “sat nav system on the car is the best I have ever seen and never lets us down”. Me and my big mouth!
Long story short, the sat nav took us down a single carriageway track, into a dead end, eight miles away from our desired destination. It appears that the system is not infallible.
Enter a new player on the scene in what3words, a system of locating anywhere in 170 countries using just three words. The world has basically been divided up into 3m x 3m squares and three words applied to each square.
The Daily Record HQ goes from being housed in the general area of G3 8DA to a specific location of ///second.index.older. What possible benefit does this have, I hear you ask.
Imagine you are driving on a country lane with no idea of the road name or postcode and all you can see is fields. Your car breaks down and you need assistance.
How do you let the breakdown services know exactly where you are? Fire up what3words on your smartphone and you can give a location directing help to within nine feet of you. Genius.
It’s why the AA, among others, has adopted the innovative technology. The what3words system has already saved lives for those stranded in remote locations and is making precise locations available for deliveries, collections, meet-ups and many other uses.
You can access what3words on the internet or via an app. You never know when you may be very glad you did. Download it now in the hope that you will never need it for rescue purposes.
