Matt Gemmell:

There’s nothing to be gained from engaging with people at that level. Here we come to the nub of the matter: I’m not saying we shouldn’t be able to engage with customer reviews. We should be able to. Google understands that, but they’ve (as usual) chosen an odd and poorly-considered mechanism of encouraging app devs to air dirty laundry in public, and burn out due to having an additional public support forum over which they have zero control. That’s horrible. Count me out.

Gemmell takes a hard look at Google’s new reviews system which allows developers to talk with users; the renewed calls by iOS and Mac developers for a similar way to interact with customers on their stores; human nature; and what really can be done to affect positive change.