Just an fyi, prior art disqualifies patents in both the old system and the new system. So, "no", you cannot patent toasted bread, or any number of cool, old, ideas just because no one has filed them under the new system. The new system basically says, in the absence of any prior art (and other disqualifying issues), the first to file will be granted the patent. This harmonizes us with the rest of the world.
Another hotly debated, but orthogonal, patent debate is whether ideas/software can be patented. As someone in the software industry, my opinion is a strong "no". NPR had an *excellent* program discussing this...
Intellectual Ventures And The War Over Software Patents : Planet Money : NPR
