A crane load indicator will be less expensive than a load moment indicator (LMI) or rated capacity indicator (RCI), but it also provides much less information. Knowing the weight, you are lifting is critical for working safely and keeping your crane from being overloaded, so a load indicator is helpful for that. However, a load indicator still leaves it up to the crane operator to know how much they can lift at each change in their boom angle or radius. The LMI and RCI calculate all that for the operator and show it to them in real-time with the actual numbers and easy-to-read bar graphic that is green when you are under capacity, yellow as you get near the limit, then red at overload.
This guy may have saved some money on a load indicator, so he knew what the car weighed, but an LMI or RCI would have let him know it was more than he should lift.