Those people in the nuclear industry would absolutely flip out...

No.

If it was like $200 or $300. Not having the ability to snap pix at any time I want is a noticeable reduction in capability. It would also lose the ability to annotate what I'm looking at with AR/informative labels, etc.

Would be hard to navigate society without access to QR codes unfortunately

No. The camera specs are why I wouldn't buy the Air in the first place. An improved camera is pretty much the only reason for my last couple of phone upgrades. I don't play games on them and there's not much else compelling that they add- batteries could be replaced.