Also, English got by for centuries without canonical spelling. For the OP's underlying point, I'm not sure that's an improvement, since people could spell thin

Also, English got by for centuries without canonical spelling. For the OP's underlying point, I'm not sure that's an improvement, since people could spell things more "naturally," as many children do now when learning to write. But it does show that irregularities can be reined in after they are already in common practice.