Thanks Carl for that informative answer!
And to answer your question, I never knew that learning with a long pip would be so much different compared with inverted rubber.
A lot of the time, when someone starts out with a long pips or anti-spin set up, because you can basically just block everything back slow, and it makes it hard for the opponent even though you have done nothing but put the racket on the ball, you end up getting a lot of easy points and then thinking that your technique is good when there is really not much technique there. Then, that player would be handicapped if they wanted to twiddle and use the smooth side because they have not learned how to use a normal and technically correct stroke.
Once you can do all the strokes pretty well with an allround setup, and your footwork is decent, if you decide you want to specialize, it is okay to do that.
Offensive players make a similar mistake. When first beginning to learn, they decide they want to be an offensive player and get an offensive setup. A beginner should start out with a good allround setup. The blade should be somewhere in the speed range of All, All+ or Off-. The rubbers should be versatile rubbers that can do everything proficiently so you can learn to push, chop, counterhit, drive, loop and block. You do not want to learn how to do any of the offensive stokes with long pips. Once you have the technique, in the appropriate situations, with long pips, you can do any of those offensive stokes. But that is more advanced play than a beginner should be worried about.
If a player learns with an allround setup then they can develop their game in any direction they want. I know guys who can play at a high level with a long pips setup and can play at just as high a level with an offensive setup. I also know players who started with long pips on their backhand because it was easy and then they tried to change to smooth and they could not hit strokes with their backhand (pips side) at all and they could not break those habits from having played with the long pips. I have seen the same with the forehand.
I do know a few players who decided to switch to pips fairly early, after they were playing for about a year, who continue to work on offensive strokes with their smooth side and are developing good strokes with both their forehand and their backhand with both the smooth and the pips side. But it is very rare and these guys actually work very hard at being able to do everything with both sides. That really takes a lot of technical skill.
So I would stick to an allround setup for a beginner.