Except that's not how patents are used in the 21st century. Patents are generally written to be as broad in scope as possible while disclosing as little as poss

Except that's not how patents are used in the 21st century. Patents are generally written to be as broad in scope as possible while disclosing as little as possible information on how to get said invention to work (if the grantee has actually figured out that part at all). Registering and successfully defending a patent is extremely expensive and patent lawsuits are usually won by the party with the most legal resources, so arguments that it protects small "garden shed" inventors are largely fantasy.