> complaints over the app are a muted form of natural selection.

that's not true. we uninstall and don't use the app. Remember Facebook •Camera? That has exited the gene pool.

> Also, did ed209 honestly claim artists churn out iterations of what came before, just like facebook churning out cloneware?

Yes. Just search for art movements, whether from 14th century Renaissance to 1950's pop art. Tell me artists were not "influenced" by other art being produced at the time.