I would definitely recommend learning to read music, because ultimately it is the easiest way to learn to progress on your instrument. There is nothing wrong with learning to play by ear - and even less with learning to play by watching and listening to other musicians. The great advantage of reading dots is that you do not have to remember everything. I think people struggle with dots at first for the same reason they struggle with languages. They expect to be fast and fluent immediately - which is being a bit unfair on themselves. When you are starting to learn anything it is always a good idea to do it slowly at first. Once you have got it right, speed comes by itself.