Did you ever read Shakespeare? Couldn't make heads or tails of his writing. Maybe because it's shifted so much in the intervening centuries that it's only marg

Did you ever read Shakespeare? Couldn't make heads or tails of his writing. Maybe because it's shifted so much in the intervening centuries that it's only marginally comprehensible to someone who learned the modern tongue? How has Gutenberg changed the rate of change in languages? Has greater availability of printed materials held things steady longer? How is the Intertubes changing this? Has the ability to instantly view the work of people representing a zillion languages accelerated change?