This happened with trance. It was once a small sub-genre of techno and more or less ok as such. When you start having nights playing nothing but (trance, minimal etc etc) that's when it gets dull.
Take Looped Bangers. That particular sub-genre of techno more or less killed a lot of peoples interest in techno (in the UK at least).
I've always taken the Detroit techno approach to mean all sorts of music and textures etc presented in a mixed up way. It's always made me dance.
robin...
Boy did I love "minimal techno" a few years ago when there was plenty of other techno (and other stuff) to counterbalance it. So an effective mix would include a few minutes of minimal stuff to contrast with the rest of the set. Of course minimal tracks are always great to play as a layer for more sonic depth, but anyway...
