Nope, your analysis is pretty spot-on.  I like DOGE for some reason, but there's nowhere to really spend it.  Yes, on Reddit there are people who make keychains, pens, and all sorts of DOGE stuff, but I could not live on DOGE alone.  Or any other altcoin for that matter.  To answer your question, they are very impractical for this very reason.  I suppose they're good for gambling, but so is bitcoin.