When I was broke I read lots of books but certainly didn't care about what a patent trolling dong from Microsoft thought about Sous Vide (still don't). Maybe that's what t.ptacek meant?
Patent troll or not, you (probably --- I don't have the books) have to respect the effort. The guy has a zillion dollars and has chosen to spend some of it to make the largest possible impact on cooking. That's pretty cool.
You should read the section of SuperFreakonomics devoted to him before dismissing him as a patent troll. If that book is to believed (and I'll take the word of Levitt and Dubner, distinguished authors who visited his lab, over that of Michael Arrington any day) he's a pretty swell guy.
That's because "patent troll" is a derogatory term made up by people who are opposed to the very idea of patents. It comes from people who are frustrated by the patent system (often rightfully so) but aren't intelligent or knowledgeable enough to propose real solutions that don't undermine the basis of our economy and instead want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
It's the tech equivalent of calling someone a communist. It's a valueless ad hominem.