Yes! After Dark! My memory is going dark, lol. Yep, the fish tank was all the rage. And then the idea that maybe just turning off/down the monitor would be a good way to safe power and the energy saving fad kicked it and killed the screen saver fad, lol.
Ah yes, the screen saver fad, lol. After Effects I think was the company that made those. They made bank for a while as everyone wanted it and it was only like $15 versus normal software that cost $40+.
I too have run into the 'most people are too stupid to understand me so I have to dummy it down' scenario. I have just learned to stop talking to people that require this adjustment. :D