My pet peeve with fingerpicks is that they force you to only ever play strokes that contract your hand, ie. up-strokes with your fingers and down-strokes with your thumb. You can usually get away with up-strokes with the thumb-pick, but down-strokes with your fingers is a physical impossibility with a normal fingerpick - they're curved so that a down-stroke will *always* snag the pick. Alaska Piks let you do this, but they're more likely to pop off unless you have long fingernails, in which case the "natural alternative" is probably fine.

The problem with that is that if you ever want to strum, you'd better remember to do it with your thumb-pick and not your fingers, otherwise you'll be collecting fingerpicks from all over the place. If your style's developed from classical guitar or frailing/clawhammer and involves strumming with your fingers, fingerpicks are a pain in the posterior. :-/

Having said that, they can give a lovely tone if used well. But I think you're right about beginners not using them - first find your style, and then see whether you can mix fingerpicks in with it.

Graham.