數位匯流：OTT時代的機會與挑戰

Abstract

數位匯流”這個名詞在近年來的定義一直在演變，最早時指的是傳統媒體的數位化。 例如個人電腦出現的初期，純文字文件首先被數位化。緊接著，圖像從簡單的2 bit黑白圖像，一路到後來的8bit(256色)，16bit，以及24bit全彩照片(1677萬色)等數位化過程陸續發生。而數位音訊則從單一的蜂鳴聲逐漸轉變成越來越複雜細緻的音效。 網際網路 (Internet) 出現後，資訊技術的進步給全球的資訊產業以及人類的生活帶來一次又一次的劇烈變革。隨著頻寬的不斷增加，網路連線方式從有線到無線，網際網路可以傳送的資訊從文字、圖像、聲音，一路發展到影視，實況以及3D虛擬實境（Virtual Reality）和擴增實境（Augmented Reality）等。隨著CPU運算速度與頻寬速度的不斷提高，這場無止盡革命於是一波波地顛覆了幾乎所有行業。在Internet時代，「數位匯流」開始被理解為傳統上相對獨立的各個行業的數位化與網路化的相互融合過程。傳統上獨立的電信、網路和廣播電視這幾三領域與IT產業Information Technologies、電信產業Telecommunication、消費性電子產業Consumer Electronics、和娛樂產業Entertainment之間的界限越來越模糊，於是在傳統基礎設施之上開始陸續地產生了各種利用新技術取代舊技術的應用。這樣的革命性應用由於是建構在舊架構之上，故科技業稱之為OTT (over the top)應用。 舉例而言，2004年Skype的出現解構了傳統長途電話業務由傳統電信公司所長期壟斷的局面，Skype就是長途通訊的OTT業者。而在寬頻網路普及後，影音傳輸變得非常方便，於是又產生了如Youtube， Hulu之類的OTT影音業者，以及Netflix這樣顛覆blockbuster傳統影音租賃市場的OTT業者。更進一步而言，像PayPal以及支付寶這一類的第三方支付工具，其實某種程度上就是OTT的銀行業。 本文所要探討的就是在OTT浪潮下所產生的各種新商業機會，文中將回顧過去的各項重要資訊傳播技術發展，比較國內外在各種變革之下所誕生的新商業模式，同時以個案研究方式探討筆者目前所從事的一項電視直播OTT業務所可能獲得的機會以及將會遭遇到的挑戰。 OTT革命將會不斷地發生，眼前的顛覆者在日後也將成為被顛覆的對象。而且影響所及的範圍將會從與電腦資訊直接相關的通訊傳播業一路延伸到生物科技，製造業與運輸業等各個不同領域。筆者希望藉由此篇論文回顧過去的各種變革，並且眺望未來的可能發展，為希望推動產業變革的從業人員以及研究者做出一些值得參考的貢獻。

The definition of “Digital Convergence” kept evolving in the recent years. In the earlier days， it meant the digitalization process of the conventional media. For instance， in the beginning of the personal computers， printed books and documents were the first to be digitized. Then the graphical image started the digitization process， from the earliest 2-bit black and white image to 16 bit， then 24 bit full color (16.77 million colors)。The same revolution also happened to the audio fields， the digitalization of audio started from the single beep sound to sound effects which are finer and complicated. After the birth of the Internet， the evolution of information technology started to give the IT industry and the human life strong impacts again and again. As the bandwidth of the Internet expands， the network connectivity evolved from wired to wireless， the information delivered on the Internet went across text， graphics and sound， all the way to video， live and virtual reality， and augmented reality…etc. As the processing power of the CPUs and the Internet bandwidth expands， this endless revolution continues to revolutionize almost all of the industries in waves. In the era of the Internet， “Digital Convergence” started to be recognized as the fusion process of industries which were traditionally independent to each other through digitization and Internet connectivity. The border between traditionally independent businesses such as Telecom， Networking， Radio and TV broadcasting and the emerging industries such as Information Technologies， Consumer Electronics and Entertainment started to blur. On top of the old infrastructure， applications of the newer technology started to substitute the old ones. Such revolutional applications usually are built on top of the old infrastructures， therefore they are called “OTT (Over The Top)” applications. For instance， in 2004， the launch of Skype disrupted the conventional long distance telecom service， which was traditionally a monopoly of traditional telecom companies. In the sense Skype is the OTT vendor of the long distance service. After the broadband internet became popular， video transmission over the Internet became very convenient， therefore companies like Youtube， Hulu and Netflix started to show and disrupted conventional vendors such as Blockbuster as OTT new comers. The essay is mainly to investigate the new business opportunities under the influence of the OTT waves. In the dissertation， we will review the important development of the information technologies， comparing the new business models born domestically and internationally. On the other hand， we will do a case study of the live broadcasting OTT TV which the writer is developing， to find out the opportunities and challenges the new business may encounter. The OTT revolution will continue to happen， the current disruptors are bound to be disrupted in the future. The areas being impacted by the OTT will also expand from computer and IT-related areas such as telecommunication all the way to biotech， manufacturing and transportation..etc. The author hopes to review the changes in the past as well as looking into the future of possible new develpments. To set a cornerstone for the future entrepreneurs and researchers who hope to continue to push the evolution forward.