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Apple kit rated five out of five by... er... Apple

AppleStore buyers' ratings scheme limited to non-Apple products

It's no use telling Apple how good its kit is, it already knows - and has granted each and every one of them five out of five on the AppleStore's new ratings system.

The online shop has just added a system that allows punters to rate the products they've bought, the better to prevent others from picking a dud.

But here's the catch: while it's open season on other vendors' offerings, Apple's own remain sacrosanct. Buyers can't rate them because the Mac maker has done so itself.

"Would you trust us to display less than perfect ratings on our own products? We don't think so!" the site gleefully admitted on the review rules page.

And why has it rated them so highly? "Because we think they're great."

Apple has now modified its language, taking out the 'trust us' reference, but you can see a screengrab of the original wording over at Gizmodo, which alerted us to the ratings system.

To be fair, many Apple items are not rated, but it shows a certain lack of self-confidence that the company isn't willing to allow its traditionally very loyal user community - declaration of interest: I'm an Apple customer myself - to weigh in on the latest iPod, iMac, iBook, PowerBook, Power Mac, etc. Surely they'd all give glowing recommendations?

Maybe not. As the UK version of Apple's iTunes Music Store learned, end-user commentary doesn't always go according to plan. The store's iMix system was hijacked in the early days by punters protesting at the lack of material available from independent labels. It has since brought many of them on board. ®

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