Jim (the Frog) Taylor

Jim Taylor is SVP and Chief Technologist at Sonic Solutions, the leader in digital media software. He is the author of DVD Demystified and Blu-ray Disc Demystified, the best-selling book series published by McGraw-Hill. Called a "minor tech legend" by E! Online, Jim created the acclaimed Internet DVD FAQ, writes articles about DVD, and serves as Chairman of the International Digital Media Alliance/DVD Association (IDMA/DVDA). Jim was named one of the ten 2007 Content Agenda Setters, one of the 21 most influential DVD executives by DVD Report, one of the Pioneers of DVD by One to One magazine, and received the 2000 DVD Pro Discus Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry. Jim has worked with interactive media for over 30 years, developing educational software, laserdiscs, CD-ROMs, Web sites, and DVDs, along with teaching workshops, seminars, and university courses. Before joining Sonic in 2001, Jim was DVD Evangelist at Microsoft, and was formerly VP of Information Technology at Videodiscovery, an educational multimedia publishing company.

More about Jim in his own words:

I discovered computers when I was 13. My scout troop visited a company that had a minicomputer. I remember how proud they were to show use the old wire core memory they had recently replaced with solid-state memory. We played a Star Trek game (with maps made of ASCII characters on a monochrome CRT -- Klingons were little "K"s). Halfway through the game the computer crashed. They had to reload the operating system and the game from punched paper tape. I knew then what would occupy the rest of my life.

My life of multimedia crime began in 1979 with the Montevidisco project at Brigham Young University, where I saw my first laserdisc player (an industrial MCA DiscoVision behemoth). After fiddling with the remote for a bit, I figured out how to program it to make the kids on the merry-go-round hop back and forth (bonus points if you recognize the laserdisc). From that point on I was hooked on random access video. I played a very small role in the development of Montevidisco, a ground-breaking language-learning multimedia project that used two Pioneer LD-V8000 players, video overlay cards, and other goodies at the cost of $18,000 per system. Now, after 20 years, we can finally achieve most of the same functionality on an $80 DVD-Video player.

My various positions at BYU over the course of ten years included Manager of Microcomputer Support for Curriculum, Academic Computer Labs Administrator, Courseware Production Supervisor, Systems Programmer, and TICCIT Courseware Author. I developed and taught workshops on multimedia and computer applications, and I also taught a graduate computing course.

In 1991 my wife Julia and I moved to Seattle to join Videodiscovery, a publisher of educational multimedia. My job was to guide the company through the jungle of new technology and to develop technology-based solutions for production and operations. I served as Director of Software Development, Director of Information Technology, and VP of Information Technology.

From 1998 to mid 2000 I was on contract to Microsoft as DVD Evangelist (yes, that was my official title). From July 2000 to February 2001 I was Chief Technology Officer at Daikin U.S., a leading DVD authoring software developer. Our goal of spinning off the DVD business from Daikin (a multi-billion dollar company based in Japan) eventually culminated with an acquisition by Sonic Solutions in February 2001.

From 2001 to 2008 I was Chief of DVD Technology and General Manager of the Advanced Technology Group at Sonic. I started my group with 9 people and built it to 120 people generating $20 million in revenue. We developed core CD/DVD/BD technology, including Sonic AuthorScript, the engine that powers Sonic and Roxio applications as well as software from companies such as Adobe, AOL, Avid, Google, Microsoft, and Sony. We also adapted AuthorScript for CE and automotive platforms, powering products from BMW, Broadcom, Pioneer, Samsung, ST Micro, TI, and many others. I championed Qflix, the CSS recording technology that makes it possible for consumers to legally download and burn DVDs.

I'm currently SVP and Chief Technologist at Sonic, responsible for strategy and technical coordination across the company, including our Roxio and CinemaNow divisions.

I maintain the DVD FAQ and I wrote the books DVD Demystified, Blu-ray Disc Demystified, and Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About DVD, published by McGraw-Hill. I do a bit of writing for magazines and newsletters such as Widescreen Review, DVD Intelligence, and DV Report. I've written for Proceedings of the IEEE, SMPTE, Funk & Wagnalls Multimedia Encyclopedia, TechTV, and various other publications. I've taught seminars and given presentations at various conferences such as CES, DVD Pro, DVD Production, DVD Europe, and New Media.

My accomplishments include the award-winning MediaMAX software (now obsolete), the amazing Videodiscovery Web site (now completely rewritten), the charming Rusting TARDIS Web site (totally out of date), and the award-winning Grader-Aider gradebook management program (still runs fine in DOS mode). My fondest accomplishments are the adorable Anneke Taylor and the cuddly Corwin Taylor.

Some of my past activities include DVD Forum and Blu-ray Disc Association working groups, CALICO executive board, the HTML Working Group and the IMA (later SPA, later SIIA) DVD Special Interest Group. When I was in high school I played the cello in the Utah Valley Youth Symphony. I took it up again a few years ago when my daughter started playing violin. I lived in Madrid, Spain in 1973 and 1977. I lived in Taiwan from 1980-1982.

My interests include science fiction, entertainment media, high-fidelity video and audio, languages (I once spoke six of them--now I'm lucky to limp by in English), educational technology, cognitive science, gardening, and snow skiing.

In the unlikely event that you're interested, here's more information about me, including a picture of what I really look like. Or you could view a boring list of my publications, presentation, and other productions.

The furry guy with Xena is my brother, Steve.