25% seems to be too low to encourage people to spend much effort curating

The problem, in part, is that it isn't actually 25%, it is much less than 25% after factoring in the reverse auction (early voting penalty). The last estimate I saw was 12%. Even bringing it back up to actually 25% (or closer to 25%) would be a step in the right direction.

I too like @jesta's idea to make it customization on a per-post or per-community basis.

Prioritize releasing a fully functional Steemit app for iOs/ Android, not just a wallet app.

Maybe partner with esteem or other existing apps to promote them better, or even acquire them outright. That's a much faster path to getting this done.