Yet they continue to work, trying to take the technology beyond war, beyond commerce, and beyond entertainment. They are using it to illuminate, create, and celebrate. When it works, it is unforgettable. It is, however, a struggle. It is a voice often drowned out by the sound and fury of pop culture, which steals from artists as readily as any other source.
Resources are scarce, and the lure of a more lucrative career such as advertising is constant.
Occasionally they are sponsored by corporations such as Sony and given spots in trade shows or allowed to bundle their work on the latest CD-ROM from Apple. There's not a lot of name recognition for people like this, even amongst their peers. For a medium that thrives on collaboration, IATechers are suprisingly solitary people, both socially and professionally. There are far more solo artists than collaborative groups, which is somewhat puzzling, given the demands of the medium. Theirs is the task of taming the techno-beast and ensuring that these tools are never used for their original purpose.