'What3Words' Wants To Replace Postcodes With Words - For The Entire Globe

This Website Just Killed The Postcode
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A new mapping site is aiming to replace postcodes, addresses and complicated directions with something far more simple: words.

Just three words, in fact.

What3Words is a new service which has divided the world up into 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares, and given each one a unique, three-word name.

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By searching on a map - either on the web or mobile devices (iOS and Android) - you can find out the name of each place, and easily send it to a friend.

Oxford Circus? "major.places.fruit".

Buckingham Palace? "frock.near.silly"

Middle of the English Channel? "endures.differing.relics"

The new site is both extremely simple and very precise, and far more easy to remember than a postcode. Its makers give the example of finding a tent at Glastonbury - with the new site each tent could be individually located, making sending directions far easier.

"Telling people 3 simple words is much easier than giving a full address and explanation of how to find a precise location,” says what3words CEO Chris Sheldrick. “It’s also much more memorable."

For 99p users can also buy a "OneWord" - a shortened, even more simple address preceded by an asterisk.

What3Words is a London-based company founded by Chris Sheldrick, Jack Waley-Cohen and Michael Dent.