The Alaska cameras are essential now; I won't fly without checking them.
They are regulated by the FAA and are usually owned and maintained by them. Each site is shown on an attached map to see the coverage, they are time and date stamped, they also show a clear day image with distances and heights for obstacles and terrain features shown so you can see what is hidden by the meteo conditions and easily decide if you have good enough weather to expect a VFR arrival or to have a chance to become visual after an IFR approach. You still need official weather (AWOS etc) to be legal to shoot the approach.
The AWOS/ASOS system is also run by the FAA and meets the definition of official weather but those systems are not always working due to the tough conditions and poor reliability. There are times when critical info is not available (vis, ceiling, wind). In some cases this prevents a flight from dispatching.
There is a plan to add those items to the weather camera system, to automatically provide an official visibility for example. The cameras can replace the AWOS and save money as well as being more useful.
Imagination does not restrict progress.