I'm glad you opened this topic. I'm not an expert but I'm a bit scared when I see "legendary" and highly qualified members here talking about all alt coins like they are simply alternatives methods of payment... I think this very reductant and most important, I think this urgently needs to be discussed here.
And to answer you, yes, I think you are right, it is a new more transparent way for crowdfunding. But not only that, it is much better. Here's what I wrote yesterday answering another topic:
You can call them coins, but you can also call them tokens. Some of them are tokens of a specific new company with a specific new product developed with blockchain technology. You buy those tokens the same way you buy stocks, with a plus that those can be used within the company or traded for other tokens. Also they are scarce, with limited supply. There are numberous ways that blockchain can be implemented to make things cheapier and more efficient.
Hope I could help
I completely agree. I think most people come into altcoins as a fiat currency alternative like Bitcoin. Yet, if you really do some research about blockchains and smart contracts you'll realize that this technology has so much more potential than just a digital currency.