It’s not a waste of money for people who travel on the fly up around the border, such as the case for myself transporting cars all over the damn place. If I’m in mid haul and need to pickup a car across the border, and the passport is sitting in the safe back home some 500xx miles away then it does come in hand.
It by no means does not replace your passport and may not be perfect for the everyday person, but it’s not a complete waste for everyone.
Thanks