Your post reminds me of this one from ~tskaalgard:
On the Embaddening of Geek Culture
In my opinion, that fact that a subculture degradates when it becomes mainstream is very common. I recently learned that it even happened to Francis of Assisi (the founder of the Franciscan orders): when he got older, he realized that the order he established was not aligned with his original intentions.
I'm inclined to think that this happens systematically.