Software patents take a beating at the US Supreme Court

> 1. Moving packets of data among heterogeneous and flaky hardware (networking)

The computer here is not making the effect, the network adapter is (in fact, the transceiver). What the computer does is orchestrate and control.

> 2. Simulating hardware (virtualization)

Virtualization is a pure software thing. You cannot generate sound, for instance, without a sound card, even if you virtualize it. In fact, the very fact that you can run a sound program without a sound device (and have it produce data instead of sound) should be a hint that the program is in fact much more abstract than the machine it runs on (and that it needs to produce the effect). But you will not get any sound without *real* hardware, that is clear.

> 3. Accepting a new form of human input (user interface)

Input (human or else) is just using sensors to read data from the real world. This is done by hardware. The case is the reverse of 2. In this case, there's no effect unless you add some output device.

> 4. Providing a new form of human output (user interface)

See point 2. You need real hardware for that. Say you want to print a sheet of paper. Who will do that, the computer or the printer? The software running on the computer, or the printer? The printer, of course. What the software can do is orchestrate. It provides the organization, the instructions, the "music".

> In each case it's the fact that a concept is reduced to practice

Not the concept. Except for 2 (which is a pure software thing) there's no concept, but a real hardware device. And for 2 there's no new effect.