Voice of AOL’s Iconic ‘You’ve Got Mail’ Alert Dies at 74

Millennials, determination 1 out. TMZ reports that Elwood Edwards, the dependable down AOL’s iconic “You’ve Got Mail” audio message, has died astatine property 74. His erstwhile employer, WKYC-TV Studios successful Cleveland, confirmed that Edwards died of an chartless illness.

Elwood is said to person worked astatine WKYC-TV successful Ohio for years operating cameras and moving graphics, among different roles. In 1989 helium was paid $200 to grounds 4 antithetic lines for AOL, past a burgeoning supplier of dial-up net and a web portal: “Welcome,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Files Done,” and “Goodbye.” Sometimes AOL would trigger the “You’ve Got Mail” connection adjacent if you didn’t person mail, which would ever get the bosom pumping successful those teen courtship days.

AOL was an net pioneer backmost successful the ’90s, bringing galore radical online for the archetypal time. It introduced the nationalist to caller forms of communication, similar instant messaging and chat rooms.

At its highest successful 2001, the institution bought Time Warner for $85.4 cardinal successful what was the largest and astir disastrous merger successful modern history. The companies hoped that merging AOL’s net infrastructure with Time Warner’s contented would make an unstoppable powerhouse. But past the dot com bubble burst, and AOL was losing subscribers rapidly to faster broadband net portion simultaneously trying to merge the diametrically opposed cultures of the 2 companies. People were besides moving distant from visiting portals and onto the unfastened web, acknowledgment to Google. AOL’s valuation plummeted from $226 cardinal to conscionable $20 cardinal successful abbreviated order. Through a series of ownership changes, AOL contiguous is simply a tiny subsidiary of Yahoo, which is itself owned by backstage equity steadfast Apollo.

It conscionable goes to amusement you however large level shifts tin bash a fig connected companies that aren’t capable to adapt. Some radical deliberation that AI is astir to beryllium Google’s AOL moment.

AOL whitethorn unrecorded successful the dustbin of history, but Elwood’s iconic “You’ve Got Mail” remains successful the hearts and minds of many. He past made an appearance connected The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon backmost successful 2015. Now it’s clip for america to accidental “Goodbye” to Elwood himself: