Blockbuster of a mistake

File this one in the "bad business decisions" department: Variety has revealed that Blockbuster could have bought mail-based movie renting giant NetFlix for $50 million and didn't. And guess what NetFlix's estimated market value is now? $1.4 billion, according to the article.

Renting movies is big business, as Hollywood has found out recently, and Internet mailing services such as NetFlix have been blamed for lower-than-expected returns at the box office. Meanwhile, in the rental market, Blockbuster now finds itself attempting to play catch-up with NetFlix, which will have 3.5 million subscribers by year's end, according to the article, compared with Blockbuster's 2 million. Imagine how different things could be if Blockbuster had bought NetFlix when it wasn't even a blip on the radar - or much of a hit on Blockbuster's pocketbook.