Skewness is a term in mathematics (specifically statistics) used to describe asymmetry from the normal distribution in a set of data. A meaningful "average" in the set of all electronics reviews for the last 15 years or so should be in near symmetry with the scale's average of 3. However, the statistical, calculated average of all of these millions of reviews is instead 4.2, an asymmetrical graph skewed left, resulting in a negative skew of about 1.3. When we talk about rating products, these numbers mean nothing if we don't give them a meaning. When the result of gathering data gives us an answer that is different than we expect, we have to adjust those numbers to fit the original meaning. If 4.2 is the average product rating, then that would mean 4.2 is average, and thus we need to shift our scale to assume that a user who rates a product a 1 is also using that as a 0-rating (which you will find referenced quite frequently) and 4 stars to describe an average product.
Using your definition of skewed outside of statistics, if you had read through a healthy number of 4 and 5 star reviews, you would have come to the same conclusion.
I understand. This article does a fine job of explicating the issue. If it weren't for the fact that a great number of reviews I've read for various products I own are often collectively consistent with my own opinion, I'd be more inclined to agree with you. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't find much value or make any real distinction between actually reading the reviews vs. relying solely on the star rating, suit yourself.
As to your first comment, I already said I have the tendency to not let things go. Typing is basically a thought-vomit for me, while maneuvering around a giant quote thread is pretty annoying and I'll only do it when I find it worth my time.
In order to respond to what's being said in a thread, you have to wade through the text anyway. Adding the quote syntax along the way is actually a more proficient way to respond because you tackle the points as they're brought up upon first reading rather than having to potentially re-read them in order to keep track of what you're responding to after the fact. It's less proficient in general and more cumbersome for anyone who's trying to make sense of what you're talking about, but whatever lights your crack pipe.
The in-depth review you referenced was more supportive of my view than yours, "I would rate the keyboard as a good buy if you get it cheap, or you want the lighting, or require a USB passthrough."
The issues that guy had with the keyboard were entirely unrelated to reliability(the crux of your view). His primary reasons for not recommending it wholeheartedly are as follows:
* The caps are rubbish, and should be the first thing that are switched out.
* The keyboard is too large, added to by the macro keys, the integrated rest, and the corners cut off.
* The biggest waste that could reduce cost and improve the product would be the removal of the LED and the logo.
I really don't see your point in continuing to discuss with me at all, as all I can tell is that your standard for quality is just pretty damn low.
I don't know about you, but I'm responding because you keep replying with points I don't agree with. Frankly, if you don't want to discuss it anymore or think it's all stupid and irrelevant, no one's twisting your arm to keep replying, especially with 5 paragraph long posts.
You also brought up a bunch of references for how you formed your conclusion that this product was deserving of being called excellent that offer out of the box reviews.
Emphasis on what I didn't say.
If you don't care about my opinion of Razer products (which is really related to their price point, if they were reasonably priced, I would happily call them average), then why do you continue to argue with me about it?
Read what I previously wrote. I said I could frankly care less if you buy any or all of their products. However, why you're befuddled that a person would respond to claims you make that they don't agree with, who knows.
I already told you I won't drop it, so why don't you? Same irritating knack to need to get the last word in?
You're projecting. If I was only interested in getting the last word in, I wouldn't care whether we agree to disagree, but I'm the one that suggested it.
Projecting would mean that I am seeing my own negative qualities in you (as a general rule, the projector is blind to these qualities, while I am rather vocal about them). I asked you a question, inferring that I am not making an assumption at all. I am genuinely curious as to why you continue to respond. My suggestion was meant to be annoying.
My claim was that the 2014 BW has not received what I would consider to be an overwhelmingly positive response from consumers. All of the data you brought up supports that claim. Let me summarize my comments:
My personal issue in the past has been that of reliability and quality. That is, the peripherals break down quickly or arrive defected. This is supported by more than 15% of the community as I've observed by looking up issues with the same products I've owned. Upon researching the 2014 BW, I did not find the empirical evidence speaking to the reliability of this particular product, suggesting that it may not be as bad as other products, but this would be an assumption as nearly all of the reviews are impressions given within a couple of weeks of ownership. I found the overall reviews to reflect a "meh" response from the community, nothing overwhelming enough for me to risk spending money to see if this product was more reliable than the other products I had tried.
However, further digging revealed many of the reviews did speak of defects and early product failure, though higher ratings were given by those who had a positive experience with customer service. Because of being very familiar with Amazon, I observed that 4 star ratings were too common to be considered above average and more likely a 4 star rating would be an average product. With a little research I discovered that was an accurate assumption, and in fact to call a 4 average is pretty generous, given that the most concentrated star rating value amongst electronics on Amazon is 5 stars. Further research about this product revealed more issues, specifically with the Chinese Cherry MX dupes. Many consumers reported variances amongst the tactility of the keys, the switches themselves breaking clean off and variances in the cross sizing causing some keycaps to be loose and others tight.
My original statement was that the response has not been overwhelmingly positive. All of the data I've acquired during this exchange (including that which you have linked) has confirmed that.
Also, the link you provided is a study I've already read based on the data acquired from Stanford I discussed earlier. While Max Woolf has determined that 2 and 3 star ratings are essentially useless on Amazon, I disagree -- I always read 2 & 3 star reviews, while I sift through the rest to find meaningful responses. We interpret that the scale is being used in the same way, however, for the most part, that is that 1 is being used to say they hated the product (or customer service or both), often referencing that they would rate it a 0 if they could. 4's if they thought it was okay, or average, and a 5 if they liked it or loved it, with no distinguishable difference between those two feelings. As a result, the average is a 4.2 star rating, indicating that a user is likely to rate a product 4 if they were satisfied, but not overly satisfied and a 5 if they are satisfied and also overly satisfied.
As Woolf points out, Amazon's scale isn't being used properly. For the most part, it's used as a 3-point scale: [1, 4, 5], so moving to a Like/Dislike system might be beneficial. Then when a product has less than an 80% approval rate, there won't be long threads arguing about whether or not the response from consumers was an average one.
