Post codes are coming

[Hardy]

Any thoughts?

I enjoyed this.

I didn't subscribe to read the WSJ article, but from the bits quoted it seems to be typical paddywhackery. Hard to blame them, I suppose, give that the country trying to portray itself as the cutting edge of intertechcybercloudmegadata - going forward - is coming to locatable addresses a few decades after the likes of Somalia and Swaziland.

The good news is that we're so late we're able to base the system on the latest GPS technology and it seems to be really well designed and precise.

[armaghniac]

There is a terrific amount of bollix spouted on this issue and some anti Irish prejudice like the WSJ article, cheered on by certain elements in Ireland.

People conflate the lack of unique house numbers in townlands with a need for postcodes, even though a traditional 1960s postcode such as exists elsewhere would not have resolved this problem. There are other ways of approaching this without the cultural extermination used in the 6 counties.

The present postcode project is Irish planning at its worst

• - yes it has unique code for each house, but you have to pay for the database to get the coordinates, this is no different from the present Geodirectory
• An Post don't need it, they have the database and automated sorting as it is
• it has almost nothing in the way of structure, so without the database you cannot even approximately tell where the place is
• it will "prevent" postcode lotteries, snobbery etc by the above, as the postcode doesn't tell you anything people can't use it, but schools and insurance companies will still delineate areas, they just will have more work to do this
• notwithstanding the above, the Dublin postal districts will be in the scheme, including 6W so that this will be an exception to the template!!
• when civilised places have made their postcode data public to promote widespread use, this is trying to make it obscure so that they can sell the database

[Eamonnca1]

Damned if I know why anyone should have to pay for the data. Someone should set up a public website where people can publicly post the information and make it searchable. Information wants to be free.

[armaghniac]

Damned if I know why anyone should have to pay for the data. Someone should set up a public website where people can publicly post the information and make it searchable. Information wants to be free.

But since very house is different this would only be useful if you posted your own house.

[dec]

I didn't subscribe to read the WSJ article,

There is a way around that.
Go to google and put in the article title. "The Irish Post Office Has a Plan To Tell One Murphy From Another"
The first link back should be the article on the WSJ website, click on the link and you should see the whole article.