It isn't just bloody-minded fanatics who object to web fonts.
(full disclosure: I am a bloody-minded fanatic and also object to web fonts)
Your argument about desktop apps isn't very good because people can (and do) prevent desktop apps from doing certain things and accessing various stuff, like web cams, the microphone, system directories, the internet, etc. If my text editor breaks because it can't access my webcam, I'd say it's a serious problem.
Blocking web fonts usually does not noticeably degrade a site's usability or functionality. Icon fonts are the exception. I've learned that a question mark in the upper-right corner is usually a site's menu, except when it's the search function. I don't think that this level of breakage is comparable to what happens when JavaScript is disabled, since many sites just break completely without scripting.