[quote name='NigeH' timestamp='1373572737' post='2139253']
... have roundwound strings evolved at all? ...
[/quote]
I guess you mean flatwound not roundwound.
Anyway, some flatwounds are pretty much as they always were (e.g. La Bellas), while others are newer because they weren't around in earlier decades (e.g. TI Jazz Flats). As for flats sounding dead, it's just not true. Listen to most bass recordings from the sixties and seventies, most of it done with flatwounds, a bass with flatwounds can be very lively.
However, I wouldn't judge flatwound strings (or any other kind of string) by what came fitted to a Satellite.