Digital Dominance

As Microsoft officially kills off Zune, Mark Oakley asks why so many digital music services are failing where Apple and Spotify continue to succeed

You may not have been aware that it was still going, but Microsoft has officially, finally, laid Zune to rest. Yes, the much-maligned music service is ending for good, with official word from Camp Redmond confirming that services will be stopped come November 15th. The fact that this will come as a surprise to many of you – surprising in that you probably thought Zune had already long ceased to be – is testament to just how poorly Microsoft has fared in the digital music service arena for years.

Saving Money With OEM

If you don’t want to spend a mint on new PC parts, there are ways to save money with OEM. Aaron explains

All users of the internet who’ve spent any amount of time looking online for hardware and software deals should be familiar with the abbreviation OEM. It’s a term we see all over the place, from Amazon to eBay. OEM deals are often cheaper than normal offers you’ll see, so they’re often very attractive.

The problem with OEM is the general lack of understanding many have, with a lot of people not knowing exactly what OEM actually means, both literally and legally. It’s easy to see that OEM deals are often much cheaper, but how is this possible? What makes an OEM deal cheaper than a normal option you may find elsewhere or on the high street? Let’s have a look.