Something that I often see happen with professional reviewers is that they get so focused on the details of what they’re reviewing that they can miss the big picture. As they become ever more expert in their field, they tend to get mired in the miniscule differences that only an expert can see. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – you want your reviewers to know what they’re talking about – but you need to be aware of this possibility and read the reviews accordingly.
For example, in reviews of TVs (not TV shows….actual TVs) you’ll often see reviewers rhapsodically discuss the blackness of the blacks, or maybe discuss in detail the customizable settings 7 layers deep, like this: “I really appreciated that both THX Cinema and THX Bright Room offer basic adjustments.” And for the serious gear-head, that is useful info, but for most of us, we just want to know if the picture is any good.
Similarly, this review of The Avengers discusses “the grinding, hectic emptiness, the bloated cynicism” (lines I wish I wrote, to be honest!) of the film, but not so much its entertainment value. Again, a useful review for the cineaste, but perhaps less valuable to a guy looking for a fun Friday night flick. Of course, you should probably know that a film review in the NY Times is going to trend toward the intellectual and away from the fun.
We saw a similar dynamic in the recent reviews of the new Yahoo weather app. Reviewers loved it, raving about its “modern design” and calling it “stunning.” And it is indeed a lovely app. But is loveliness essential to a weather app? When you say something like this –
Visually rich is a great way to describe the new Yahoo Weather app for the iPhone. It uses Flickr community images to illustrate the weather in glorious, full-screen color rather than a boring table of temperatures with some tired pop-meteorology icons
– aren’t you missing the forest for the trees? Because what most users really want from their weather app is the ability to quickly see the weather forecast, and those “tired” icons do a pretty good job. Look at this photo, from Yahoo’s weather page on the web.
Tired, but very useful
Pretty useful, yes? But the reviewers, so focused on their reviewerly details, have lost sight of what the real goal is, because they so want something to be different, fresh, new. Just like the NY Times wants The Avengers to be other than cynical, while the target audience wants nothing more than cynically formulaic entertainment. So absolutely read reviews, but keep in mind that most reviewers care about different things than you do.
Thoughtbasket 