My point was, and is, that software is treated the same as music and art.
Not really. You can patent software that is stored on some type of non-transitory medium. You cannot patent music or art, even if it is stored on a non-transitory medium, since the patent office views music or art as non-functional.
So much for the last 13 pages of this thread.
Apple wins patents for Cover Flow, Time Machine and Magic Mouse
It doesn't matter if Apple has a patent to cover flow or time machine. You can still infringe someone else's patent even if you have a patent. If someone patented the refrigerator and you got a patent for a refrigerator/freezer combination, you could still infringe the patent for the refrigerator if you manufacture the refrigerator/freezer combination.
Could you tell me where in the US Constitution where patents is written about?
Article I, Section 8 includes:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;