Welcome to the OnLine History of Snogpitch

In 1992, I purchased my first modem for my Commodore 64. It was a Model 1660 (300 baud modem) for only $10, with a trial subscription to Q-Link. When I got my modem, I found out Q-Link would only load properly on a Commodore 1541 series of drives. The drive I had at the time was one produced by MSD, called the Super Drive. It was compatible with most Commodore software, but anything that used special load routines, would cause the drive to error. So much for 100% compatible.

I then turned my eyes onto the other online services available back in 1992. Compuserve, Delphi, and Genie were my first commercial services I noticed in my magazine collection of Compute! I had heard that Genie had a great library of files, second to Q-Link. I also heard that Commodore had a support board on Compuserve. I figured as many years as I have had the C-64, support would be the last perk I would need, and opted for the tremendous selection of files.

Genie Logo

Once I logged on to Genie, I realized I would need an "Online Personna" in order to participate on the live chat channels. What would I choose? Various ideas came to mind, ranging from a Super-hero, to a ficticous Star Trek character being the most likely candidate. I remembered a word that was coined, back in my high school days, when Alice and her Adventures Through the Looking Glass was discussed. That word was

SNOGPITCH.

Genie Logo

Perfect! It fit the requirement for a name, and was good for a conversation starter, or I could veil it in secrecy. Those who knew me in High School knew the story behind Snogpitch, and it brought an instant smile of recognition to my fellow class mates.

My modem was later replaced by a 2400 Zoom, I longed for the faster speeds (as I do now!) and quick downloads that could be made possible with a faster modem. I became a familiar signature on the local BBS's of the greater Cincinnati Ohio area. By the Summer of 1992, I became a Sub-Operator of The Basement, which was a

Commodore 64 Image BBS

located in Hamilton Ohio. I thought it was pretty neat, getting files for our Bulletin Board before anyone else could, and releasing them to the local Commodore Modem User Community.

In 1994, I was asked by an operator on Genie, if I would be interested in becoming one of the chat hosts on that service. I figured, why not? I was on that service anyway, might as well do something else that was fun! That didn't happen until the Summer of 1995. I became a chat host or channel operator for the Commodore 64/128 Round-Table, or Flagship as it was called, then. I host Saturday evenings, from 10PM through 1AM Eastern Standard Time.

It was also the Summer of 1995 I purchased a Macintosh computer. This computer encouraged me to get on other services and the internet. I subscribed to Prodigy in 1995, and became a familiar person on that service. In 1996, I took the first plunge into a full Internet Service Provider.

After many months on the Internet, I found a friendly chat area on Dalnet, (with the help of a fellow chatter from Prodigy) called #40single. I'm an channel auto-operator on that channel to this day.

I still use my Commodore, but I upgraded to a 128-D model. It is souped up, compared to it's original configuration. I boasts a 20mhz processor, 32MB of RAM, a 56K modem, and other goodies which makes it a power user's machine, at least in the Commodore Communities. If I am online in the chat rooms, I may be using the Commodore. The Macintosh and the Commodore get equal use online.

Genie Logo

Return to About Snogpitch