It just comes down to what makes the shot highest percentage to execute for the individual player. While a less experienced player will likely find much more success staying on the center axis, a more experienced player will effortlessly and subconsciously adjust for throw/swerve and gain the benefit of a more predictable ball interaction (aka fewer skids) with a little outside spin. The spin also allows for a softer hit to get shape as the spin will help the cb along off the rails. Spin also saves a bad hit that strikes cb too high and helps the cb come back across the table for the 8 by widening the angle off the first rail, but this is more of a tertiary benefit and most guys who prefer to use spin aren't misjudging how high they hit the cb too often.
Some top players employ a philosophy of always favoring a little bit of spin because it makes contacts more predictable. You ever hear Earl commentary and his predictions for shots? Rarely ever is there not at least a little bit of english on what he thinks is the right shot. Seigel and Ronnie O'Sullivan are also on record saying they never try to hit the center axis. While these legends are at the extreme, many shots are just played a certain way (with english) as the pro standard and a lot of them don't 'need' spin. My favorite example of this was JJ commenting on a world championship match where a player had a cut into the side and had to stun off the ball. The CB would not reach a rail. JJ quipped, "Now the internet will tell you this shot doesn't need any spin on it, but you'd struggle to find a pro that doesn't hit this with low outside".
Spin makes the game easier, not harder. That's the camp I'm in and I'm in good company,. But I certainly don't blame players for employing the KISS method and leaning on shots they've chosen and shot 1000s of times. It's not like most of us are at the sniper level of the top guys where the likelihood of skids makes a significant difference in make %, anyway. Shooting it the way you are most comfortable getting the job done is likely the best approach for most. Though it should be telling when the majority of the best players prefer to spin it,.