Isn't first to file REALLY bad? It helps patent trolls doesn't it?

Yes. It's a disaster. In effect if you invent something you now have to patent it or possibly suffer the consequences from a patent troll. It's a money spinner for the patent office if nothing else.

This attack could render the product unusable at important times and extend or limit its functionality without the manufacturer's permission.

Surely that should read, "without the user's permission".

Actually, yes. Your "less knowledge" is pretty much exactly what drives society forward. If you had to worry about breeding, raising, and slaughtering livestock, growing vegetables and grain, weaving fabric, etc. you wouldn't have time to play with maintaining your vehicle. You pay for the "luxury" of pre-packaged and prepared foods in order to free yourself for other tasks. You pay for pre-milled lumber, pre-fabricated tools, etc. to free yourself to do the particular task at hand that you get to choose. Sure it's fun to learn about how these things work, but not having to know is what frees you to learn about what you are interested in: like car maintenance, quilting, electrical engineering, or whatever whets your whistle.

I really don't care that much about cars. Their history is interesting to me. But, working on them: not so much. I do love philosophy, basic electronics, esoteric computer hardware, OS innards, college football, and pets. I'm really grateful for this for myself and, for example, my surgeon. I hope he's freed to only have to worry about his craft and whatever interests him.

Mac's aren't evil, they're just a product with a market of folks who want to use a computer without thinking about it. Heck, I'm typing on one. I have a collection of oddball hardware, but when I just want to browse the internet and watch TV I pretty much exclusively use this little laptop. There isn't an evil Apple horde looking for new ways to make a Mac dumb, just a bunch of guys and gals trying to come up with new ways to make a computer fun and easy to use. I mean really, you use a PC. There's a community of folks out there who look down on you for using a dumbed down collection of cheap commodity parts.

Chevy Malibu's aren't evil, they're just marketed to folks who want a reasonably low-cost car that they don't have to spend a lot of effort maintaining. 2x4's aren't evil, they're just made for folks who want to use a piece of wood without having to cut it down and mill it themselves. Ground beef isn't evil, it's just marketed to folks who don't want to breed, raise, slaughter, and uh, grind their own cows.

TLDR; Don't get pissed at folks for liking an easy to use product, so they can enjoy something else. We all do it and benefit for it, 'cause foraging pretty much sucks.