Assuming people are always connected
Comments(5) All Points Blog pointed me at the direction of a piece on the mess of mapping and postcode data in Northern Ireland, which got me thinking a bit about this rush to rely on location-based services and always-on connections to “the cloud/interweb”.
At first glance, the situation in Ireland (National Mapping agency has copyright on maps, Post Office has copyright on property location) sounds very familiar. However, Ireland doesn’t have postcodes yet, so things are a not so cut and dried- in this day and age, if you had to go to an awful lot of trouble to implement a system for locating properties, would you invent the postcode system or something else?
What worries me though, is this assumption that the best solution is a technological one. Apparently LBS are the way forward, so much so that your Gran will know her position (in lat/long or a local coordinate system? not sure) the same way that she now knows her address. If she doesn’t remember it, then she can go to her mobile device or google maps and find it out. Clearly this writer is very lucky that he lives in an ultra-connected area with great GPS/phone signal, never has a powercut and has an entire family/social network of technologically adept people who won’t bat an eyelid at this.
It is only in the last 50 years that power of some kind has been laid on to every house in the UK, after many decades of trying. I think it’s dangerous to assume that ubiquitous computing will reach all areas and all social classes in a few years, and it’s also dangerous to assume that everyone will jump into it whole-heartedly to such an extent that you could rely on it totally for critical infrastructure like postal services.
I doubt anyone would want to use Lat and Long as a postcode (though it would be interesting if you could point on Google maps and email everyone at that location – mad, but sometimes useful, and I’m sure it will happen).
I think the problem with a georeferenced postal system is that you have to divide the country into very small blocks to make it work. In the countryside you can get away with a coarse grid, as the approximate location will pick out the only habitation. In a skyscraper you’ll potentially have hundreds of addresses at the same x and y – maybe you will need a z as well? – adaptive grids?
Whatever, some people will end up with a big number as their postcode, but perhaps you’ll get that with any system?
Hey Barry! Welcome!
The piece does actually advocate using GPS coordinates instead of a postcode- the idea being that you could use that for ordering from Amazon or similar. I think it would mean a lot more people being considerably more familiar with technology than they currently are (think teaching your Mum to text), and anything critical to infrastructure that totally relies on a new not-very-well established technology has to be a bad thing.
Thanks for commenting
Jo
Lads,
it’s already been done and in use – see http://www.irishpostcodes.ie. Also see article here: http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=2897&trv=1
and Garmin – largest manufacturer of SatNav’s globally – has been involved!!!
Thanks for pointing those articles out. This seems like a sensible compromise- a system based on lat/long but also easily memorable- just like a postcode in fact! Not sure about the name though… memories of old atari games come to mind…
Thanks for stopping by!
PON now fully released as Loc8 Codes http://www.loc8code.com with full support by Garmin