Back to the comment by 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."

While you won't find that attitude here are Mudcat it was, and sometimes still is, very common elsewhere. Here in Australia it usually goes "... and he/she can't read a note of music". It can be used as praise, but not always. Older musicians sometimes apologize for "only playing by ear". They say they aren't "real" musicians. Children, back 50 years ago had their hands smacked by piano teachers if it was seen that they played from memory. So yes -- this attitude may have become less obvious -- thankfully -- but it's a valid point made from observation.
Cheers, Joy