My personal opinion of W3W, while a cool experiment, has always been: over-engineered. To hear they're raising their hackles is disappointing.

From Amateur Radio: Maidenhead grid squares + NATO phonetic alphabet are technical but adequate for purpose. It's hard to confuse "Foxtrot November Zero Three" with "Delta Mike Zero Four" even if you're communicating over a VHF/UHF satellite flying overhead in LEO.

You can get more or less specific by adding or removing symbols. Eg: "EK64ab" or just "EK". It's a challenge to log radio contacts from all of the major [AZ##] grids. https://twitter.com/GridMasterHeat