Old Vermin: Could I just ask again how much success people have had using DVD as a learning medium?

Not so much from DVD (though I did learn a couple of the tunes off my Transatlantic Sessions DVD) but from web-based videos, yes, I've had a fair bit of success.

I particularly like the YouTube vids of some bloke called Will Fly, which I find very clear and easy to follow.

kmbraun: What has troubled me about this debate (over about 40 years of it) is that each has advocates that take pride in not being able to do the other. I've even known academic musicians that say with some pride that they haven't taken the time to learn to play by ear. Mostly, it is more in the form of a reverse snobbishness where a person takes pride in note being able to read (the dots). In no other area do so otherwise intelligent people take pride in not knowing something.

I certainly haven't seen that on this thread, or other threads I've read on here touching on the same topic. Most posters seem to get by doing "a bit of both" or doing one and wishing they could do the other (or do it better). Unless I've missed it, I can't recall even one poster on this thread that takes pride in not being able to do one or the other.