I feel like, "if I wore these to work, I’d be reprimanded, if not fired" should be a clue that they’re not cool in public spaces.

Woah. You're telling me the public finds a discrete, Internet connected camera that could be recording at any time creepy? I'm shocked.

Phones arent too far off from your description.

Yeah, but it's easier for people to notice a phone's camera pointed at you at something like a large event or in public compared to some guy just wearing glasses.

It was always possible for a creeper to take creep shots with a camera ever since cameras became small enough to be portable.

which is why i try to cover my phone's camera when holding it vertically, to make others more comfortable

it was but before phone cameras not everyone constantly had a camera in their hand.

Creepers still had access to small cameras and could develop film in their own dark room. Sure, it's a lot more effort, but creepers will do a lot to get their creepshots.