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Title: The voice of AOLΓÇÖs ΓÇÿYouΓÇÖve got mail!ΓÇÖ has died at 74

Date: Fri, 08 Nov 2024 21:42:48 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-voice-o...

If youΓÇÖre at least in your mid-30s (give or take), you know the voice of
Elwood Edwards, realize it or not. He recorded the phrase, ΓÇ£YouΓÇÖve got
mail!ΓÇ¥ and three other lines for Quantum Computer Services in 1989. That
company later rebranded to America Online, and the rest is early internet
history. Edwards died on Tuesday.

WKYC first reported (via Variety) that Edwards passed away one day before
what would have been his 75th birthday. He was a longtime off-camera presence
at the Cleveland TV station, working as a graphic designer, camera operator
and jack-of-all-trades employee.

His wife, Karen Edwards, worked at Quantum when she heard the companyΓÇÖs
then-CEO talking about needing a voice for the software that would soon
bombard mailboxes across the US. ΓÇ£So, she volunteered my voice,ΓÇ¥ Edwards
said in a 2012 video. ΓÇ£And on a cassette deck in my living room, I recorded
the phrases that youΓÇÖve come to know.ΓÇ¥

He was paid a grand total of $200 for his voiceover work.

The new-message catchphrase, recorded in EdwardsΓÇÖ calm and welcoming voice,
became a cultural phenomenon in AOLΓÇÖs ΓÇÿ90s and early 2000s heyday. Of
course, that included inspiring the 1998 Nora Ephron rom-comΓÇÖs title.

Edwards also contributed three (lesser known but still remembered by many)
AOL sayings: ΓÇ£Welcome,ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£FileΓÇÖs doneΓÇ¥ and ΓÇ£Goodbye.ΓÇ¥ In the
2012 video, heΓÇÖs depicted getting hounded by various employees, prompting
him to say the thing. (AOL is currently owned by Yahoo, EngadgetΓÇÖs parent
company.)

ΓÇ£So, thatΓÇÖs the story behind the catchphrase,ΓÇ¥ he said in the clip,
ΓÇ£which, well, I have a certain amount of trouble trying to escape.ΓÇ¥

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-
tech/the-voice-of-aols-youve-got-mail-has-died-at-74-214247947.html?src=rss

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