Let it never be said that I can only say mean things about Muskbhai.

I think he was right about this one thing.

Cameras are more practical than lasers because they are cheaper.

That is the extent to which we agree. No matter how many you add, I do not believe they increase safety or automation to the level of lidar. Especially when it comes to operating the fire hazards people seem to believe can drive themselves.

Lasers are cool.

Shooting them through glass wires to get internet is very cool.

Taking public funds to never build out nation-wide fiber is not cool.

But this is about cameras.

My intro to this use for them is more interesting than my start to using them for photography. I had to finish the last course for my undergraduate degree at the same time I was starting my first “real job”. I already stuck out with a shikha sticking out the back of my head. So I was especially self conscious about saying I had to miss happy hour for class; I took the honors robotics one to make it sound better. Surprisingly a lot of fun. We used what looked like a roomba, our laptop, its webcam, and later a Kinect (rip) to navigate around our floor in Sennott, kick a ball, identify colors, and count objects. Silver linings to an Algorithms professor who liked Linux and made it clear his only role was to lecture, not whether or not anyone passes.

Without doxxing any companies, here’s a list of neat ways to use cameras outside of school.

First. I worked at company that used computer vision to autonomously drive industrial trucks through spaces like factories and warehouses. I left as they were making the inevitable pivot to data company, but that’s a different story.

Second. I interviewed at a company that was using drones with cameras to check our infrastructure for problems we should’ve fixed years ago. Ideally we’d have a healthy number of inspectors, but this works too.

Third. Another company I interviewed at. They were using cameras in manufacturing processes to do live quality assurance. This is the classic use case.

I did interview with a company whose product made a mockery of the 4th amendment. Genuinely interesting to get an inside peek into their culture.

Like I said, I will concede that lidar is arguably better than cameras for a car that can drive itself on public roads.

But I don’t find it that interesting. You know what’s less stupid than slowly driving in sketchy tunnel. A subway. We already know how to mostly automate trains and at one point in time, we used to build the best. Why did we stop? We needed more Freedom.

How is it less effort for me to get from Gujarat to a random cave in Rishikesh than it is for me to get from the Northeast to Pittsburgh. At every station I got to get a new cup of chai and the option for some nasto. Meanwhile the train to Bloomfield was actually a train to Harrisburg. And then a bus downtown. And then another bus to Shadyside. That’s one more bus than acceptable.

Back to the point. Cameras are underrated. They’re generally cheaper to replace than a special laser and more special glass. Yes you shift more to the compute layer. But unlike the next VC backed startup with money to burn. These are actually good cases for edge compute.

We don’t need to only spend money on datacenters and LLMs. We have tons of other great uses for GPUs. Like I don’t think y’all realize just how many valuable uses of expensive technology we have that will actually provide billions in returns for R&D cost instead of only on paper via some complicated circlejerking. We don’t need even more 10x growth-maxxed boss-bro productivity-hacking decacorn SaaS ideas. Just give me a boring automated supply chain that includes a way to get to Chicago, San Diego, and Atlanta without getting behind a wheel or going through TSA.

I need to always make sure I have exactly one compliment handy. What is it with desis and buying his computers with wheels (yes everything is computer). Shame on us for cheating on our roots with Toyota (not an ad). Not safe from shame, I owned a Crosstrek before I lived in Austin.