If I may nitpick... These posts made me dig around for history. 3D Studio R1, for DOS and by Kinetix, was introduced at Siggraph in 1990, with version 3 apparently appearing, again at Siggraph, in 1993. 3D Studio Max R1, for Windows, appeared in 1996. (It came under Discreet in 1999. IINW.) Cinema 4D 1 appeared in 1994, which is, incidentally, the same year that KPT Bryce 1 appeared, too. (Funny, I would have sworn that Bryce appeared in 1992, but my recollection is obviously wrong.) But it doesn't invalidate your points about Rhino. :-)

-- erlik