&gt; <i>It is much less so now, when was the last time you bought anything substantial without reading a review of it or checking the customer ratings?</i><p>Besides the already mentioned point of reviews being made too soon to be able to reflect on product lifetime, keep in mind that easily available (e.g. on the shop site) on-line reviews are mostly bullshit anyway. It&#x27;s mostly a mix of people being affiliated with producers or paid to endorse a product, with an occasional person which is too dumb to operate something correctly but quick to drop a 1-star rating with a nonsense explanation. To get any sensible reviews, you actually have to know some trustworthy reviewers - be it a site you follow or a friend you know. Either way, maintaining sources of trusted reviews requires some effort, so you won&#x27;t be doing that for most of the product you buy anyway.