I didn't ignore it. It just didn't tell me anything I haven't heard a hundred times before.
You tell me how Apple pieced together existing ideas, none of which they came up with first, and made it work just like those existing ideas already worked. I understand that. I think that's insane. Patent # 5,946,647 covers the detection of certain data, e. g. email addresses and phone numbers, in text on the screen and presenting options for dealing with it. This is not a new idea. Doing it on the Newton, after it had been done on PC's, does not make it a new idea. Making it pretty does not make it a new idea.
Taking something that already exists and editing it is basis for getting a patent. Until that changes, innovation is artificially slowed. This is what I have a problem with. Had the multi-touch patents stood in court, I'd be fine with it. Obtain proper licensing fees and move on. The "coverflow" style gallery is another good example. Apple did that first. Anyone who uses it should pay for the opportunity to use it. Patents like these OTOH, an aggregate of existing methods to parse data, should never be granted.
I've filed for, and have been granted, several patents on behalf of my prior employer (electronic sizing and sorting related). I understand the review process, and it's shortcoming is that it's far to easy to have one granted. Blindly trusting the judgement of the USPTO, as you stated you will do, only furthers the issues.