Anachronisms

Why do we still do things the way they have always been done?
When I go to the books store, why can't I buy books that are out of print? Or music, or movies?
Look on the shelves, and you will see the answer: stock. In the whole country, there are many thousands of copies of each book, CD, and movie sitting on shelves or in warehouses waiting to be sold. They can't do that with anything not likely to sell.
I have found a book series I like, and I want to start at the beginning. The early books were published in the 1980's, so I can't get them. I should be able to order a copy, and either have it printed by laser printer at the store, or even have it printed by the publisher and sent to the store.
The only reason I can see that they don't do it this way is fear of illegal copies. The files at the store could be encrypted, and the system could require access to the publisher's server to unlock them. Actualy, the files would be around 100K, so a new copy could be downloaded each time.
I have the same problem with movies. I want to see The Cisco Kid, (with Gene Wilder as a rabbi in the old west) but it is not available. Why can't I get a copy burned at the local store?
Years ago, book publishers had a rule that a manuscript had to be submitted on 8 1/2 X 11 paper, doublespaced, etc. An important author sent a publisher a disk instead and told them to deal with it. They have come around.
They still will not get into electronic publishing, because, I guess, they are afraid of illegal copying. They need to move into the 90's and set up a standard DRM (Digital Rights Management) system. Apple has done it for music. Someone needs to do it for books. Apple already owns the name iBook.
They still sell to libraries, where they have many copies of new popular books. When the interest dies down, those books are returned to the leasing company, and they are sold for $3 retail at stores like Books-a-Million. People still pass around books. If you could own a book you like for $3 in electronic form, would you buy it and keep it? I would. And they could sell all the old books they ever published, with very little cost to them. They would make money on this.