Everything these days gets a rating from customers. We are told that these ratings are important and influential.
I realize I am from a different generation from the one that makes such proclamations and that's a good thing. Because I hardly believe in the so-called wisdom of crowds.
Recently I read a report in that cheery, neo-fascist newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, that said that the average rating consumers give products is a 4.3 out of 5. Do a little math and you can extrapolate that the average product gets an 86% or roughly a B+. In other words, everything is well-above average.
As a lark, I went to iTunes this morning and did some checking. An album called "Come On Get Happy! The Very Best of the Partridge Family" received a rating of 5 stars out of 5. "Beethoven: The Complete Symphonies and Piano Concertos. With the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and Otto Klemperer" received 4 stars.
IMDB's customer rankings of top movies has "Citizen Kane" as 33rd on their list.
