The ICQ Uh-Oh

1996

Date: November 1996 · Place: Mirabilis, Tel Aviv, Israel · Figures: Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser, Amnon Amir, Arik Vardi, co-founders, Mirabilis · Tags: Audio Meme, Chat Client, Pavlovian 01. Two Syllables That Owned The 90s Mirabilis launches ICQ in November 1996 out of a Tel Aviv apartment. The client plays a two-syllable sample, uh-oh, whenever a message arrives. The voice is recorded in-house and never credited on the splash screen. Within two years it is one of the most-recognised audio cues on Earth. 02. Sound As Trigger It is the first audio meme of the consumer internet, predating MSN Messenger nudges and Skype rings by years. AOL acquires Mirabilis in June 1998 for $407 million, largely on the strength of brand recognition that the uh-oh sample built unaided. Users who installed ICQ as teenagers in 1997 can still summon the sample from memory. Pavlovian conditioning shipped as a default notification. Sources • TechCrunch, 'The Rise and Fall of ICQ' (Steve O'Hear, 2010) • Wikipedia, 'ICQ' • Haaretz, 'How Four Israelis Created ICQ' (28 May 2014)