I don’t think that the portion of the population who truly appreciates the Tron aesthetics is that much larger today than back then. It’s rather that the internet provides better visibility and discoverability for such non-mainstream interests.
No doubt, but when looking back at post 1982 art during that decade, do you see a huge influence by Tron? We didn’t really see it until the 2000s. There were a few underground artists experimenting with the Tron aesthetic up until that time, but they were mostly unheard of. I remember there was at least one around 1994 or so in SF.