The escrow system that Satoshi mentioned here is not like the escrow system that we have here. Most of the escrow services has the intermediary holding full control of the funds and becoming a mediator in the event that something goes wrong. What Satoshi described was just a rough idea of how P2SH or by extension, Multisig currently works but in a 2-of-2 manner. A correct system would be whereby there is a 2-of-3 multisig where a trusted party holds onto the third key as a mediator if something goes wrong. This is only effective if the third party is trusted by both and also neutral to both of the parties involved in transaction.

Escrow existed before Bitcoin.