Address is pretty separate from directions in both the old and new system. The fact that I'm on Maple st. doesn't tell me anything about how close I am to Pine st., except in a small number of cities that have a useful naming system. So I say "Turn left on Maple, then right on Pine, then...". Likewise, here you say "turn right at maple.big.grumpy, then left at green.thick.rat".
This system is an improvement for locations with no road names (so it's not any harder to give directions) or with ubiquitous GPS (where you can directly convert). The number of places with road names but not ubiquitous GPS is on the fast decline.
Maybe I am just dumb but I cannot really understand the "Address is pretty separate from directions in both the old and new system".
You usually know where you live (i.e. how to get there) so the only reason you need to have some kind of coordinate system (be it "conventional" or the one we are discussing) is to tell someone other, including the postman, how to get to you.
I.e. - I really do not understand why "Hi Ibrahim, I live at Alpha-Unicorn-Honey, just drop here when you are in the area" would beat "The train stops at Nadira, from there you walk 2 miles in the direction of the sunset, when you reach a rock looking like a kneeling woman you turn in the direction of the face and walk anoter mile - and there is my hut".
So far the only place where I believe this system would help is in large Japanese cities (Tokyo) etc. because they don't have "named" streets, most of the time, and at the same time most people can be expected to have access to technology.
(Maybe it's the same in China, but never been there so I don't know how it is)
I sincerely doubt that people living on the outskirts of the Gobi desert will routinely exchange their three-words coordinates over whatsapp and then get Google Maps or whatever to guide them to the desired destination.
> I really do not understand why "Hi Ibrahim, I live at Alpha-Unicorn-Honey, just drop here when you are in the area" would beat "The train stops at Nadira, from there you walk 2 miles in the direction of the sunset, when you reach a rock looking like a kneeling woman you turn in the direction of the face and walk anoter mile - and there is my hut".
You misunderstand. It's not trying to be better at directions, it's trying to be better at unambiguously specifying a location. If you're mailing something to someone where there are no roads, then this gives you a way to address them with more precision than you could do before. You just need a postman with a $40 smart phone with GPS (or a look-up-table).
You should really think about this as "easy to remember and communicate GPS coordinates".
This system is an improvement for locations with no road names (so it's not any harder to give directions) or with ubiquitous GPS (where you can directly convert). The number of places with road names but not ubiquitous GPS is on the fast decline.