I don’t get what the big deal is with those expensive pods. The super concentrated liquids are pretty simple to use. When I was in college, there was a crystalline concentrated product called Fresh Start that was a dry mini cap full, with no dust kicking up. Dry and light, I don’t know what happened to that product, but it worked well and was great for those of us who didn’t want to lug any more weight/mess than necessary.
There is a suprisingly large number of people that don’t know how to use the measuring caps or cups that come with normal detergent. Pods are a quantity control method for concentrated detergent and HE washers.