Living every moment serendipitously has its problems too. Most folk are happier minimising their regrets; review services should help that to occur.
Part of the problem with something like yelp is that there's no way to gatekeep the genuine and false reviews. Netflix or Amazon, for example, know what you actually paid for. Yelp's got no way to know if you really dined at the restaurant or whether you just know the owner.
Yelp's got no way to know if you really dined at the restaurant
Don't they have "Yelp offers"? When you redeem one of these, it's probably because you ate at the restaurant. With the right software, they could even figure out what food you ate, who your server was, and if you tipped well.
Although it could know what you paid for if it tied into your credit card statement with Yodlee and gave you some sort of points or reward system for doing so. Same system as Amazon's reviews and "Amazon Verified Purchase" program.
> "Most folk are happier minimising their regrets; review services should help that to occur."
Regrets is a bit of a strong word, no? If I walk past a nifty looking sandwich shop and pop in for a meal, and it turns out to be sub-par, is that really a regret?
I'm with jcampbell - if you are inclined to experience significant regret/remorse over having a meal that wasn't too great, it may be time to re-evaluate.
It's not as though I'm saying people are having long dark nights of the soul over a poorly-made salad. But they still feel regret because it's easy to imagine what they might have had.
People will do a lot to avoid even minor regrets. Do you have a favourite restaurant? Do you have a favourite dish at that favourite restaurant? Do you ever feel even slightly reluctant to try a complete new dish at a completely new restaurant? Why?
For a sandwich sure, but if I'm paying $100+ then I think regret is a perfectly fine word, not just for 'losing' the $100, but also for the lost opportunity that I could have gone somewhere else and had really good food instead, especially if going out to eat is a rare and special occasion (as it is in my case, since I have a young child).
Part of the problem with something like yelp is that there's no way to gatekeep the genuine and false reviews. Netflix or Amazon, for example, know what you actually paid for. Yelp's got no way to know if you really dined at the restaurant or whether you just know the owner.