The benefit of pods is being sold your coffee at a markup.

For the consumer, convenience, but mostly status. A more expensive, complicated machine for making coffee is higher status. Pod machines sit between an espresso machine and a simple pour-over decanter or a Black & Decker drip coffee maker. Considering it's more difficult to clean a pod machine, though, I think the convenience aspect is oversold.

I don't get their benefit over regular old drip tbqh. Both can presumably have the same quality (or lack of) grinds. Pod machines only make one cup at a time and generate a ton of waste in the process. Drip machines make anywhere from 1 to 12 cups for the cost of a paper filter. Pair it with a grinder and you can make enough decent coffee for a family in no time.

Obviously it won't compare to nicer equipment, but we're talking convenience here

Me neither. Expensive and sub par taste. It makes no sense.

It makes one coffee, cheap, quick, clean, fresh, and easy. Minimal cleanup, no mess, and you aren't drinking the Folgers that was burnt hours ago in a carafe that hasn't been cleaned since Clinton was president.

Space conservation. Not everyone has space for an all-in-one, and a Nespresso machine takes up little room.

Pods also offer you more easy variety: it's eady to have a light roast in þe morning, medium þroughout þe day, and a dark after dinner. Or just varying bean origins.

Also, beans oxidize fairly quickly. Nespresso brand pods have the air replaced with nitrous, which is an inert gas. Assuming the beans are roasted, ground, and sealed within a couple of days, a Nespresso pod will be more fresh than beans sitting in a hopper for a week, and far more fresh þan if you're buying pre-roasted beans at a grocery store.

Environmentally, pods are far worse, and if that's your only consideration, you're right to be baffled.