even the cheap costco pods are 3x the cost of powder. And his point is that the pods undermine the dishwasher because they don't let you control when and how much detergent is deployed during the multiple washing cycles.

powder deploys during rinse and wash. pods deploy only during wash (or only rinse if people put the pods into the tray, which is common)

And the dishwashers are designed with a hardness index in the hopper . you're supposed to line up the soap with your local hardness level to avoid residue.