Real ID application documents can be submitted online, DHS says

The no-fly list may itself be pointless, since that particular barn door was closed in a variety of ways (most notably by locking the cockpit door, as well as the security theater of the TSA). And we've had the no-fly list for nearly two decades without Real ID, and without any more successful attacks.

So it's probably the case that it's not necessary. It may not have been unreasonable at the time it was conceived, but it takes a long time to get states to design and issue new IDs, so by the time the requirement finally became mandatory it was overcome-by-events.

Now, it just forms another barrier to getting to vote. No state currently requires a Real ID to vote, but it does make it harder to renew state-issued IDs, and some people may not be prepared with other forms of ID.

I've gotten real id licenses in multiple states as a result of moving, and it's incredibly annoying because you never know what documents they'll actually accept. You basically have to bring tons of extra documents in case they randomly don't like the way one of your documents looks (e.g. one state inexplicably didn't want to accept my birth certificate because it had an official seal on it). Otherwise you could end up having to make another trip (which could be even more of a headache if you're trying to reregister your car and are signing up for new insurance, in which case there may be a deadline).

I say this as someone cautiously optimistic about government improving its technology service delivery. We should be cheering efficiency, not nitpicking it.