I don't know what software you're using, but the vast majority of software I use is SPAs (whether they need to or not), and need an internet connection to even load.
The old school MPAs were the ones that required the network for every single interaction.
This type of SPA has invented a new version of "FOUC" as well. Because the data for the front page doesn't come with the page, you get a set of placeholder items rendered.
TL;DR: money math works in SPA's favor, users be damned
Small correction from a software house perspective:
except a year down the line the app is a complicated piece of spaghetti THE CLIENT has to rewrite OR PAY YOU TO REWRITE
:D
And with this: > most of the components you can reuse would work OK as pure HTML components anyway
I unfortunately cannot agree. It is theoretically true from pure "it's possible" standpoint but it was not my experience in pre-jQuery times. The shit backend devs did with concatenating html + JS snippets as strings wrapped in various patterns like the builder to make it configurable was pure maintenance horror. I don't miss it at all.