There is a great quote from David Cain that explains the birth of most of the underground electronic art scenes, like the demoscene, tracker scene, or ANSI/ASCII art scene: "It is the point where the desires of the creator are greater than the technology which is available." An expanded citing of this quote also reveals how such scenes can self-destruct, and helps illustrate why I dropped out of the demoscene in 1997. It goes:

There comes a moment where the technology gets closer and closer to the imagination and creativity of the writer, and in the end, if you're not careful, it overtakes. And suddenly, serendipity — which before was from your own sweat and blood — comes by saying "If I press one of these 397 buttons, maybe I'll get something out of it." Now, at that moment, the machinery is driving the creativity, and the creativity is (no longer) driving the machinery. — David Cain, BBC Radiophonic composer from 1967-1973

Of course, the challenge is for the end of one age to become the beginning of another.