Exactly. The vast majority of sites that store text and simple images are perfectly readable without javascript, and the experience is much, much better. In some rare cases, the site does not load at all, and I do not bother to switch javascript on, unless I am really interested in that particular site.
Being a fan of the default browser styles I contend your observation that "bare" sites look uglier. In fact, having a consistent visual style across sites becomes rather agreeable, instead of allowing each site to set up its style.
Well, I too really like the default browser styles. But the problem is that, with JavaScript disabled, a lot of things that would be hidden by Javascript (like menus and things like that) now appear all cluttered at once. That is what I meant by uglier.
