NEW PLUGIN Compres
Developing high quality, universal language (machine) translation is beyond the scope of Wikipedia. (At this point in time, it seems to be beyond the scope of anyone, anywhere!) In fact, sufficiently accurate, nuanced language translation between any two languages is not yet at the level of accuracy needed for users of encyclopedic content.
Also, the difference between the various language versions of Wikipedia is greater than the language difference. I don't know how to articulate what this difference is, but I have observed it. The current approach seems to be rather effective.
Summary [edit]
Readers can choose to use machine language translation as needed. For now, this seems the more prudent arrangement i.e. to have machine language translation as an option, a helpful alternative, rather than the default.
