No, this is a good system.
And it doesn’t have to be a super expensive bike. When I was a kid in NYC, I saved up my dog-walking money to buy a modest basic bike, what we called an “English” bike (narrow tires), locked it to the post outside the branch library...and the kids from the projects (who couldn’t be bothered to walk dogs, clean stoops, etc. to earn their own money to buy something) had stolen it by the time I came out 15 minutes later.
I wish I had had one of these devices! In fact, I wish I had had a laser device that would have blasted those idiots into some common sense. I’m sure a few years later they were all in jail or dead, but that’s not an ideal outcome.
I think I recall hearing of the English Bikes years ago. Distinctive because of their narrow tires as you said, plus the light ticking sound they made when used for gliding down a slope. Classy. Nothing like those Banana Seat bikes.