I'll say histograms are useful for certain things.
If you are looking at electronic devices or camera lenses there's the issue that a certain fraction of people get lemons. Some bad reviews are because of that.
Other people have unrealistic expectations of the product and give a bad review.
A histogram gives some immediate insight into this problem, and then looking at stratified samples of the reviews helps there on out.
Now, I will say the star ratings on Ebay are weak because of the fact that a less-than-perfect ranking gets people in trouble. Although "acceptable" performance on Ebay goes a considerable range (It's certainly a worse experience to have a long confused exchange with somebody with poor english -- this person shouldn't be punished, but they shouldn't be rewarded either.)
Edited to add: "If you're going to get any useful info, you have to read the reviews," is so incredibly true. I'm surprised it's not getting more mentions in these comments. The scatter plot is kind of cool, but I'd so much rather have a histogram and actual reviews to check so I can find out why the product got those ratings.
If you are looking at electronic devices or camera lenses there's the issue that a certain fraction of people get lemons. Some bad reviews are because of that.
Other people have unrealistic expectations of the product and give a bad review.
A histogram gives some immediate insight into this problem, and then looking at stratified samples of the reviews helps there on out.
Now, I will say the star ratings on Ebay are weak because of the fact that a less-than-perfect ranking gets people in trouble. Although "acceptable" performance on Ebay goes a considerable range (It's certainly a worse experience to have a long confused exchange with somebody with poor english -- this person shouldn't be punished, but they shouldn't be rewarded either.)