Dec 3
If every address had a QR code ...
Spotted this morning on Twitter:
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Nigel_Shadbolt Nigel Shadbolt RT by CountCulture
A single UK address register emerges - http://bit.ly/edbREt - what open data products should it have? #opendata #datagovuk #opengov
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Finally, a single database of addresses - this is a great and long overdue move, well done all concerned.
What data products should it have?
Well, I'm not going to go into that too deeply, anyhow I had my say in another place, but it dawns on me that if every address has a URI, say:
addresses.gov.uk/id/12345abxdefg98765
then it can have a QR code too.
If it has a QR code then that could printed on labels, those labels could be stuck on envelopes and maybe replace postcodes in some situations.
Envelopes with QR codes could be sent through the mail cheaper, because they can automatically sorted into postcodes, thereby saving postmen time.
Because postcodes are designed to describe the walk-route of a postman, not describe an area (which we have forced it into doing).
Rather like number plates, perhaps we could apply to have our own custom URIs which replace those nasty looking URIs.
This might work rather like URL minifiers addresses.gov.uk/id/TheRobinsBedford resolves to addresses.gov.uk/id/12345abxdefg98765
Would people pay for a nice address URL?
Could the postal service do this and make a profit?
Could they pass on the savings of using QR codes to users that bothered to use them?
Would this drive QR printing prices down?
Dunno, just thinking aloud. If every address had a QR code, how would you imagine it being used? Do jot a comment below:
Thanks!
UPDATE 17 Dec '10:
Seeing as this musing of mine recently got picked up in the US it might be worth pointing out some differences between the UK and the US regarding some of the issues I raised.
UK Postcodes typically look like B7 1JD and are to some degree fathomable if you know that B stands for Birmingham and not Bristol. My postman quip emanates from my understanding that each sub-area 1JD and 1JE, say, is known as a walkroute or similar, and was designed by the postal services to describe a set of addresses which a postman could visit with (literally) a handful of letters before returning to his/her trolley and grabbing another handful. The resulting polygon has seemingly become the only standard for services such as making deliveries.
UK vehicle registration plates follow a similar fathomable yet obfuscated regime, but if you pay a bit more money you can enter an official bidding process to purchase plates which might have some meaning for you. I have seen "PHP 4" go by me, quite literally.
