Thousands of seaweed pods replace single-use plastic bottles and cups at the London

I mean, I love the fact that they're neutral for the environment and all, but seeing how they biodegrade in 6 weeks, that really does limit shelf life. Also you basically have to drink them in one go since you can't put it away or close it again.
I'd say they're great for festivals or stuff, but let's face it, they're going to be a novelty item that you'll be guilt-tripped to use and they'll go for more than the same volume in traditional packaging.
I'm not against this, I'm just a bit pessimistic...

I think that's fair. But I also think festivals and such are the place these are most badly needed. Reusable bottles are an option for every day use, but keeping track of yours once its empty would be difficult at such an event. Plus, there isn't really good infrastructure to refill it. Plus, people leave their trash on the ground at festivals a lot. Ots not cool, but it definitely happens. Still not great to have these guys floating around for a couple weeks, but it's better than the garbage that sticks around forever.
It's not a once size fits all solution by any means. And I don't think we should stop looking for better solutions. However, for right now I think these have a good use in the right circumstances.

I agree it's a fantastic solution, just that I think they're going to be unreasonably priced.

That may be true. Granted Festival drinks are always over priced, so there might not be winning on that front.