I'm not buying the article's comparison with Latin. A big reason that Latin forked off into Spanish, Italian, French, etc. is because of the influence of Germa

I'm not buying the article's comparison with Latin. A big reason that Latin forked off into Spanish, Italian, French, etc. is because of the influence of Germanic and Moorish invaders. Also, the vast majority of people living during the Dark Ages were illiterate and had no idea that their Vulgar Latin was evolving into something else. Add to this the fact that most populations were isolated from each other. Today, we have widespread literacy, sound recordings and linguists who are able to identify these trends. Humans are becoming less and less isolated, so there are actually fewer opportunities for English to diverge, not more.