I think examiners (and non-technical folks who don't think much about it) get fooled by "pseudo-novelty". Progress moves fast in the technology field, especially with computing. Every year things that were impossible last year become possible through simple incremental improvements. If you're not paying attention the new uses might actually seem novel rather than just the obvious applications of the better machine.

Edit: Not sure why that's controversial... Some time around 2009 I finally got my parents hooked up with cable internet vs the DSL they had before and wowed them by playing a movie over the internet from my home media server. I didn't invent "a method and process for transmitting a full length movie over a network without quality degradation", but my mom sure thought so. I did some "computer work" and a "novel" new ability emerged.

Edit: Changed whats in () to something less offensive.