Back in the late 90's *everything* computer related was obscure to the general public, it's like calling the battle at Waterloo an obscure event: maybe today, but not at the time you're writing about. Pretty much anyone who cared about graphics had heard of the scene and would at least have seen Second Reality, pretty much every BBS had a scene dir with the best demos.
Ok this was fascinating. Shoutout Hacker News for leading me here. Including your post in my cyberpunk newsletter: www.cyberpatterns.xyz
Back in the late 90's *everything* computer related was obscure to the general public, it's like calling the battle at Waterloo an obscure event: maybe today, but not at the time you're writing about. Pretty much anyone who cared about graphics had heard of the scene and would at least have seen Second Reality, pretty much every BBS had a scene dir with the best demos.
Well, this is an art newsletter, not a technology one, so demoscene is indeed "obscure" to the majority of people that follow the arts.