[rdl]

I think there is some assumption that Amazon reviews are representative of a large population of users, so if there are 10 great reviews and 5 good reviews and 1 bad review, it's representative of how a much larger population of users feels.

If you're writing a review commercially, with limited space, it only makes sense to write a review if: * It is very positive and leads to purchases * Negative reviews of popular/well known products (or, from big/well known companies -- a negative review of the Apple Cube is quite popular) * It is part of a review of a class of products (either "top 10 devices of CES" or "all digicams compared")

There is no incentive to publish negative reviews of obscure products