Some people seem to think "pin" and "pen" are pronounced differently.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

35. This thread is exactly why it's not remotely feasible to

try to go to spelling English phonetically.

Even those here who pronounce pin and pen exactly the same, will recognize the difference in writing. Or the marry, merry, Mary example. There are lots of other such examples, where the spelling preserves the original differences in pronunciation, which are sometimes preserved in certain populations.

English is a very peculiar language, and some of our spellings preserve the language of origin, some of them preserve an older pronunciation, and some help preserve an older meaning. Okay, some some of our spellings could be simplified, but if we attempted to go to a purely phonetic system, something an Aussie would write would be totally incomprehensible to someone from the Deep South, just for one example.

I used to think that things like TV and movies were eliding differences in pronunciation of our language, and I've realized recently that that's not very true. Certain extreme accents seem to have been lost, but other differences have not only become entrenched but seem to have deepened.

The nature of language is continual change. Modern technology has slowed it down somewhat, but not completely.