Quote:
Originally Posted by jgaiser
Well, except the only place to get iphone apps is from the Apple app store and I can buy books from any of a number of bookstores besides Amazon. Would kind of restrict those making valid reviews to only those that bought from Amazon. Probably not a good idea.
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Yes, what he said. I find Amazon reviews *extremely* helpful when deciding to purchase a product, be it books, ebooks or pretty much anything Amazon sells. I read the reviews and can easily weed out the ones from people complaining about things not having anything to do with the product (i.e. a lot of 1-star reviews are people complaining about poor shipping from a third-party) and political commentary (i.e. most of the 1-star reviews of Going Rogue are from Palin-haters, the 5-star ones are from Palin-lovers and the 3 and 4 stars are from people who actually thoughtfully read the book).
Amazon is by far the best source of reliable reviews for items you are thinking about purchasing. Don't just look at the number of stars, but read the reviews. Just in the past week I have used the reviews to guide ebook purchases (bought from Fictionwise, not Amazon), baby toys purchases (bought from Walmart, not Amazon) and a toy chest purchase (ultimately from Amazon).
Amazon does mark reviews from people who actually bought the item there as "Amazon Verified Purchase." As much as I despise Amazon's horrid DRM, I have to admire them for creating the best shopping website around. Not only are the reviews spectacular, but their suggestions for products/books/DVDs/etc. that you might like is unsurpassed by any other site I've encountered.
-Marcy