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as much money in 2012 as it had previously predicted. On April 30,
2012, the bookstore entered into
a partnership with Microsoft that will spin off the Nook and college
businesses into a subsidiary.
Today, the world's largest bookseller, Amazon, is a software
company. Its core capability is its
software engine, which can sell virtually anything online without
building or maintaining any retail
stores. Amazon has even reorganized its Web site to promote its
Kindle digital books over physical
books. (In August 2012, Amazon announced that it sold more
electronic books than hardback books
and paperback books combined.) Now, even the books themselves are
software products.
• The music industry:
As with publishing, today's dominant music companies are software
companies: Apple's iTunes
(www.apple.com/itunes), Spotify (www.spotify.com), and Pandora
(www.pandora.com). Traditional
record labels now exist largely to provide those software companies
with content. In mid-2013, the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) continues to fight
battles over copyright
infringement and the illegal download and sharing of digital music
files.
• The video industry:
Blockbuster—which rented and sold videos and ancillary products
through its chain of stores—was the industry leader until it was
disrupted by a software company, Netflix (www.netflix.com). In
mid2013, Netflix has the largest subscriber base of any video service
with some 33 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in February 2011 and
was acquired by satellite
television provider Dish Networks in March 2011.
• The software industry:
Incumbent software companies such as Oracle and Microsoft are
increasingly threatened by