RIAA didn't want music delivered electronically, and iTunes got them over that hump. They could not have thought of that themselves. However, an online book sto

RIAA didn't want music delivered electronically, and iTunes got them over that hump. They could not have thought of that themselves. However, an online book store selling the same products you have for a hundred years is a much easier sell. You aren't harming your existing business, you're extending it from publishing to distribution and sales. That's just vertical integration - quite well-understood as a business technique. The tricky part is the touchy-feely web aspect (since that they understand publishing and are very close to distribution already). So given the amount of money they stand to lose, I have no doubt they could have made it work. Undercut the prices everyone else has to charge and you create a serious incentive for people to try you out, forgive your mistakes and give you 5 years to slowly figure out how to perfect the model.