Apple has restored fairness to a system that I felt was being abused. The App Store, which allows users to browse and download Apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, [no longer accepts ratings from those who haven’t used the Apps before](http://www.macrumors.com/2009/02/26/apple-removes-old-non-customer-reviews-from-app-store/).
I noticed the loophole in the system myself, when reading a review about a French conjugator App ([blogged about previously](http://vantan.org/archives/2008/07/review_of_iphon.php)). I eventually purchased it and thought it was an excellent App, and realised that the earlier reviewer had his facts wrong. He alleged that it could only translate from English to French and not back, which was totally untrue. I wrote my own review, which was more positive, rebutted his claims, and gave it a 5 star rating to offset his (which was 3 stars only).
I was annoyed that people could rate Apps based on screen shots and presumptions without even trying them out. It is unfair to the creators of the Apps as it would affect their ratings and possibly their sales. Maybe some nasty reviews were posted by rivals, or these were people who just had nothing better to do.
Whatever the case, I’m happy that things are fairer now. May the best App win.