Its a tough question, my thoughts are that to a mere mortal like myself improving on the bottom bait rig is hard but as time will tell variations will be discovered and components designed that will enhance its potential - again they may be new concepts or ones that have gone out of vogue perhaps. On a lot of waters the rigs people cast out fall into 2 categories.
1) Tried and tested
2) Latest popular rig with media coverage
Do you think that carp become used to a certain type of rig and therefor become able to deal with it through repetition?
As soon as something is cast out that is different to that in some way does that learning process start again?
With the idea of improving rigs by watching our quarry I totally agree and it is a slow but rewarding process. It is slightly easier to tailor the baiting and approach at close quarters but a whole lot harder at range when 99 times out of 100 you will not be able to see exactly what is going on below the surface and how the rig is presented - going on the other factors of hitting the clip, feeling the lead down and tying the rig in a way that reduces tangles as much as possible.
I know a lot of this sounds like ramblings but with the short time i have available to fish i want to maximise my chances and every edge counts!