Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Will Michelin Guides on Cell Phones Turn Us Into Rude Diners?

by Andrew McKinnon on October 20, 2008 at 04:16 PM



Michelin guides, the oldest and most illustrious European hotel and restaurant guide, has finally arrived on the mobile Internet scene. Mobile Michelin guides will partner with "jet set" mobile content provider Ubi Ubi to provide the latest reviews of restaurants in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The Mobile Internet restaurant guides are online now at www.ubiubi.mobi and can be accessed on your mobile phone's browser.

Michelin, like all publishing companies, is adapting to a new generation that has been weaned on the Internet. The mobile site offers links to restaurant reviews by Michelin reviewers, as well as reviews by popular bloggers and forums for users sharing tips and reviews.

Ubi's Michelin platform will also, for the first time, allow reviewers to post comments during their meals (assuming they decide to be rude a whip out a cell phone between the main course and dessert, but what else can you do when you want to say "Madonna is sitting next to us and just ordered the French Onion Soup!").

Leaving comments is encouraged, as Michelin's team of experts will consider the users' comments and reviews when evaluating a restaurant's star ratings, the gold standard for restaurant reviews for over 100 years. This is nothing new, of course, as Zagat's has been providing user comments in its restaurant reviews since the get-go, but Michelin is a great deal older and more stodgy -- the gold standard for restaurant reviews for over 100 years -- so its embrace of user-generated content in real-time is somewhat revolutionary. It remains to be seen, however whether or not its reviewers incorporate those user-reviews in any significant way -- let's hope they do, as it'll put some of those Michelin-star institutions to be on their best behavior 100% of the time. [From Yahoo! Tech]

Tags: michelin, mobile apps, mobile web, MobileApps, MobileWeb, restaurant reviews, RestaurantReviews, travel, travel guides, TravelGuides

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular