While I'm not a demoscener, I know enough about how they are generally made and have my own share of award-winning small programs. So I'm confident that they don't make a good example of non-bloated software.
Every demo is really amazing when you encounter them for the first time, but AFAIK 64K demos were hottest around 2000 when Farbrausch revolutionalized the scene with .fr-08: .the .product [1]. Since then, 64K turned out to be too large because most 64K demos can be divided into multiple parts---engine, data and compressor---and each part can be individually developed. There are many 64K demos but far less engines and only a handful number of compressors in this level. It also means that there are only a handful number of people that can actually make engines and compressors. It's not a fit software, it's rather an unhealthily thin software. They are still awesome but they can't be a model.
Every demo is really amazing when you encounter them for the first time, but AFAIK 64K demos were hottest around 2000 when Farbrausch revolutionalized the scene with .fr-08: .the .product [1]. Since then, 64K turned out to be too large because most 64K demos can be divided into multiple parts---engine, data and compressor---and each part can be individually developed. There are many 64K demos but far less engines and only a handful number of compressors in this level. It also means that there are only a handful number of people that can actually make engines and compressors. It's not a fit software, it's rather an unhealthily thin software. They are still awesome but they can't be a model.
[1] http://www.theproduct.de/