Exactly my man! Long before terms like 'cyberspace','virtual reality','the matrix', etc entered social discourse, TRON pioneered the concepts on screen.
Also, things like 'The Last Starfighter' were pretty, but still used the same old 'lone star pilot against incredible odds' concept in Star Wars...and so I felt it was just a ripoff.
TRON was unique in that 'man against computer' was done before...but never fighting the computer from the inside...the idea of an entire world inside the computer. In addition, it was a sing out to the emerging gamer population...those youngers who watched the movie and played those arcade games as kids were all the ones who later became the movie CGI, special effects, game console and computer game designers of today. It's amazing how many of those of my generation who are gamers find that movie to a defining experience...for all it's cheeziness.
FastCargo