[Dalewyn]

Personal computing has gone mainstream.

Video games have gone mainstream.

Internet has gone mainstream.

Anime has gone mainstream.

"AI" has gone mainstream.

I think it's fair to say that nerd culture does, has, and always will exist, but what nerd culture is changes with the passing sands of time. The nerds of today are not the nerds of yesteryear (read: us).

[anthk]

Anime in Europe was already mainstream in the 80's and 90's with Dragon Ball (late 80's/early-mid 90's), Captain Tsubasa, Candy Candy, Mazinger Z, Heidi. On video games, well, everyone played Tetris at least once.

[goodpoint]

...and none of this preserved any sort of unique culture, only proving my point.