Files Done
November 7, 2024 1:07 PM   Subscribe

Elwood Edwards, the voice behind AOL's You've Got Mail has passed away at 74.

His voice is synonymous with the web 1.0. Steve Case, former CEO of AOL, wanted to add a voice to the user experience. He recorded, in 1989, on a cassette player at home, the six phrases used by AOL, "Welcome", "You've got mail", "You've got pictures", "You've got voicemail", "File's done", and "Goodbye",

His voice even appeared on an episode of the Simpsons and for a time, he would record personalized .wav files for a fee.

Here he is appearing on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
saying the classic phrases and 3 Jimmy asked him to say inlucing, "Dat Ass Tho".
posted by JohnnyGunn (12 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by UhOhChongo! at 1:17 PM on November 7


đź“Ş
posted by clavdivs at 1:37 PM on November 7 [1 favorite]


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posted by limeonaire at 2:16 PM on November 7


Awwww...

This was the internet when I first started using it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFuUCpBbbHw
posted by freakazoid at 4:58 PM on November 7 [1 favorite]


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This man's voice is associated with SO many feelings for people of a certain vintage.
posted by potrzebie at 6:30 PM on November 7


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posted by oozy rat in a sanitary zoo at 6:43 PM on November 7


"Goodbye"
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posted by Wild_Eep at 6:58 PM on November 7 [5 favorites]


✉️
posted by Gelatin at 5:02 AM on November 8


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GOODBYE.WAV
posted by those are my balloons at 5:59 AM on November 8


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posted by filtergik at 7:30 AM on November 8


I grew up watching WKYC and had no idea he was on staff there. "He worked at 3News for many years as graphics guru, camera operator, and general jack-of-all-trades, yet it was a somewhat random opportunity in 1989 that earned him international fame."
posted by lolibrarian at 3:39 PM on November 8


Seen on Mastodon:
Back in the 90s when I used AOL, Wired magazine had a forum. One day a new user arrived and said she was married to Elwood Edwards, who was the voice that said “You’ve Got Mail!”. So we suggested a bunch of other things he should record in that voice— “You want fries with that?”, “You’ve got credit card debt!”, etc. He recorded them! You can listen to them here
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:37 AM on November 12 [1 favorite]


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