This is a great question, Eapples.
I think what you'll find-- and have already seen-- is that this issue is all tied up with cost. If folks find a great deal on less-than-ideal charcoal, they will adjust and use it. Especially this time of year, as most of us are trying to stock up enough to make it through the winter to Memorial Day when the charcoal typically goes on sale again. Paying full price for charcoal in March has an air of bitter defeat that is not soon forgotten.
But to answer your question directly: Kingsford blue (aka KB) is great stuff, and a wonderful place to start. It's very consistent, widely available, and generally pretty affordable (especially if you buy it during holiday sales). Cooking on kettles (and smokers) really isn't that difficult, but there are a lot of variables and you are wise to pick a charcoal that will measure consistently, with temps and burn times and effects that are quite predictable. Kingsford blue is just that thing. Get a bunch, and you won't be sorry.
Having said all of that, there are some disclaimers:
1. Taste. My taste buds aren't super-premium, but I know folks who are super-tasters and they can definitely taste the additives in KB. If you can, you might prefer to use lump or a natural briquette.
2. Additives. There is conventional wisdom swirling around out there about carcinogens in charcoal. I've not done extensive research, but I've done a little reading and found that the stuff I've read is mostly crap. No distinction between the carbon in charcoal and the carbon on food (aka, burning your dinner, which is not good eats). Little interest in the length of cooks, or the temps, or the effects of smoke. So a lot of this chasing after 'pure' charcoal seems a little silly to me, at least based on current research.
3. Fillers. KB and most other briquettes use some kind of mysterious substance to bind the bits of charcoal into those consistent briquettes. I'm not sure what all of that stuff is, and there are valid questions about the health effects that burning and eating that stuff might have on us (though I haven't seen any decent answer to those questions as of yet). But what I do know is that those fillers don't give off much heat, but they do give off a lot of ash. Which can choke out your fire on really long sessions, which is a drag. But what bugs me is that we buy charcoal of whatever type *by the pound*, and yet that isn't a fair predictor of the BTUs we get per pound. So a chimney full of KB and lump produces roughly the same volume and duration of heat (at least in my experience), but that chimney of KB weighs way more than the chimney full of lump. Which is a long way of saying that I don't like paying per pound for ashes that I need to carry away from the grill again. I think I get more mileage from 20lbs of lump than I do from 20lbs of KB.
4. Brands. Like I said above, my favorite charcoal choice is heavily related to price (kinda like my favorite kettle is prolly the one I paid the least for), but I've indulged in some premium brands to check them out too. My favorite is Frontier, which is about 50 cents/lb when it's on sale at my store. It's consistent and works well for high and low heat. I've also tried Wicked Good, which is north of $1, and haven't liked it as much-- too smoky, and too many huge pieces. And I just loaded up on Cowboy when it was down to 34 cents/lb. at Home Depot recently. I've used about 30 pounds of it so far, and while I don't like it quite as much as Frontier, I can adjust a little and I love the price. I HATE Trader Joes 'natural' briquettes (don't get me started), and yes, I've even used the legendary Lazzari mesquite lump and loved it (no idea what it costs, though). I also happened upon a couple of small bags of Frontier mesquite this summer, and while I couldn't taste a big difference, I did notice it runs a bit hotter. I've also got about 80 pounds of KB in the shed, and like to mix it with lump in the smoker for overnight cooks.
5. Srsly? I prolly sound like a snob, but I'm not. If you have me over, I'm not going to kick your bag of charcoal. If you cook with grocery store brand charcoal, I will eat your pork shoulder and love it. If you cook with Matchlite, I will paste a grin on my face and eat it anyway. ;-) And if the winter is cold and the charcoal supply in the shed runs low, I'll happily use the KB for everything and I doubt anyone-- including me-- will notice a difference.