The ice cubes falling in shouldn't matter at all especially because the ones pictured look like ones from a fridge ice maker. Usually these ice cubes are made from filtered water so it's fine.
I just started with a buddy of mine and we were intimidated as well. We got a good deal on initial start up equipment and went to our local brew supply store to ask them to hook us up with a simple pale ale recipe. It was a very easy process. A little long but much cheaper than extract. About 42...