Ed Wolf

Bio:

Ed is a Product Manager / Business Analyst at Time Inc. and works with brands such as People, Time and Sports Illustrated to create new mobile experiences that engage readers beyond print magazines. He is a native New Yorker and has a passion for creating technology and products that people love. A lifelong geek, he graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. in Computer Engineering and founded iTheater, an open source media center project. When not bridging the gap between technical and non-technical teams, Ed enjoys hiking, traveling and playing racquetball.

• Title: Product Manager / Business Analyst, Time Inc.
• Age: 26
• Location: Midtown
• Contact: @EdWolfNYC

What was your motivation behind creating iTheater? Is it difficult to find time to maintain iTheater while working as a Product Manager at Time?

I was motivated to create iTheater immediately after the Mac Mini was introduced in 2005. Its small form factor was perfect for sitting next to a TV so that individuals could watch and listen to their digital media. At the time, there were no media center front ends for the Mac. We set out to solve that problem and give users an intuitive way to interact with their movies, music and photos. Today, we are no longer developing iTheater as there are alternative media center applications on the market. It was a fun college project, and I'm happy that we were able to fill the gap until XBMC and others became mature on the Mac platform.

Have you been watching the Olympics? As a racquetball player, do you wish racquetball was an official Olympic sport?

Absolutely! This past weekend I had 5 live streams going all at once. For 2 weeks every 2 years, my life is basically watching the Olympics. It would be really cool if racquetball was an official sport, but I enjoy watching some of the lesser-known sports such as Archery, Sailing, Badminton and my personal favorite, Canoeing/Kayaking.

You have a steady job and a cool side project. Do you have any regrets? What do you regard as your best decision?

I have no regrets; things happen for a reason and I'm content with that. I've been fortune to have amazing opportunities come my way unexpectedly. Honestly, how many people get to spend an entire day with Woz? My best decision has been transitioning into a role that allows me to bridge the gap between engineering and business. There are not too many people that can speak both of these languages, and being that liaison has allowed me to create better products and personal relationships.