Without a Shinobi (or any other NVR system/software), you would have to individually and manually monitor each camera you installed (unless its connected to the web or some other service run by a 3rd party). Having a NVR becomes a necessity with 2-3+ cameras, if you want to store the recordings, or if you want advanced video/image processing features. Like any other product that has competition, each NVR system/software has its pros and cons. Some may give you a more streamlined interface to view all your cameras. Some may give you better object/person detection. Some may integrate with other products/services better. Some may operate more efficiently/effectively than others. Some may only work on certain operating systems.

There are several reasons that you may want this beyond being paranoid.

• monitor what animal(s) are eating the plants in your garden to better protect your garden or monitor the growth of your plants
• monitor when you have packages delivered to provide evidence something came late (or didn’t arrive or that the package labeled “fragile” was thrown onto the porch)
• monitor when tools, toys, or objects are left in the yard so you can better keep track of your things or remember to pit everything away before going to bed
• monitor when/where your pet pooped in the yard so you can spend less time checking for it and ensure that you got all the poop
• monitor the snack pantry to prove to your spouse that you’re not the one eating all the snacks
• monitor the sleep walker of your household to make sure the areas they commonly go have safety features installed
• monitor the room with your TV/computer/etc. to better track how much time you watch TV/use your computer/etc.

Obviously a camera is not the only way to achieve the goals listed above (nor is it the best/easiest way to achieve all of them). However, the point is that it could be used for anything.

Plus, you may think think the people who do use it for “security” purposes are paranoid for having this (and maybe they are), but when someone keys their car, slashes their car tire, steals their package, knocks over their mailbox, or has any sort of crime/unwanted behavior committed against them, they’ll be glad they had it recorded.

If they properly setup the NVR, they shouldn’t have to watch much of anything as the software would do it for them and alert them based on the activities/locations of their choosing. Depending on how advanced they want to build out the NVR and the other services they connect it to, they could build out a fully self-hosted home security setup. Maybe that sounds like overkill or something only the most paranoid people would want, but its something commonly sought out by parents, women who live by themselves, or people with a lot of enemies. Again, they may not have it because they expect something bad to happen to them, but instead can feel a little more comfortable that they’ll have some additional precautions in place if something bad did happen to them.

If security cameras are what my neighbors need to rest easy at night, then I am fine with them having them as long as they don’t invade my privacy. With how common products like Ring, Nest cameras, etc. are becoming, I would consider each person who chooses to operate their home cameras locally through a private NVR over a privacy invasive security system a big win to the privacy of that person and anyone else in the household as well as that person’s neighbors. We should be encouraging people to adopt Shinobi or similar NVRs instead of making people feel bad about being paranoid or being OK with them using connected/privacy invasive systems.