On Dec 13, 2007, at 11:03 PM, Jeffrey D. Gimzek
([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
> I am working on a rating site now and let me tell you this is a tough
> nut to crack !
>
> 1 - 5 stars are ubiquitous for a reason.
The only reason 1-5 stars is ubiquitous is because it's ubiquitous.
Anyone remember when hotels and such only went to 4 stars? And now
I've seen ones touted as "7 stars". Sounds like "starflation" to me:
when "everyone" is a 4-star, you have to go to a 5-star system just to
differentiate yourself from the crowd. But why is everyone a 4-star?
Answer: not because they are all top of the line, but because no one
wants to be below the top. (And doubly so when Motel 6 and its peers
show up as 2-star, leaving the question of what fleabag is only a 1-
star? Eew?
The problem of a 1-5 star system is that there is typically no
definition of what the various ratings mean. Is 3-star "average"?
(What is "average"?) Is 1-star "avoid even if they pay you to stay
there and it's the middle of a blizzard and there is no other place at
all within 100 miles"? Does no stars mean "hasn't been rated" or
"less than 1 star"; does it mean both?
A number of systems have gone to a 7-star system: 5 stars, no stars,
and "don't like". (Adobe Bridge, Rhapsody, many others.) Even then,
it may do a good job of capturing levels of dislike which may be
valuable in some settings -- movies, for example. For that, an 8-star
system is probably better: -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 (and unrated). Then you
could decide that (picking two movies I saw from the Rotten Tomatoes
"worst" list from last year) than while DaVinci Code and Eragon were
both "bad", that Eragon was a -2 (Tivo it and maybe remember to watch
it later, or not) but DaVinci was only a -1 (might be worth Netflixing
some day), while Dreamgirls was a +2 (might be worth buying a copy for
your personal library). (Such a positive/negative balance also makes
rolling up group averages more accurate.)
-- Jim Drew
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.soundskinky.com/blog/
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