I'm tired of reading and I want to post.
In terms of musical arguments I side with Jim Carr, fdeck, JimmyM. I will stick to what I do know something about. I stand here before you as a CPA going on 30 years. That's 30 years doing something I absolutely detest because nobody clued me in early enough that I should be able to read music proficiently. Yes I made it into music school on talent and determination but it wasn't enough. There was no way in heck I was going to cover enough music to get a degree without being able to read music, and read it well. So after struggling for a year, trying to learn Bach, Scarlatti by 'every-good-boy-does-fine and by using my ears, I had to give up my dream. Trust me when I tell you that's its very, very, very long and exhausting career doing something you don't enjoy when you know that there is something that you do enjoy that you can't make a living at. (BTW, there's a whole lot more to this than I'm going to go into here because it's no important to the question at hand.)
In all honesty I see this breaking down two ways. Those that just want to have some fun playing music. Do you need to read standard notation to accomplish your goals, probably not. If you know that's all you want then there's not much reason to exert yourself.
Then there are those who wish to pursue a career in music. As far as I'm concerned, if you plan to do that then you need to take that as seriously as anybody else embarking on any career. How far would the would-be architect/engineer get in his profession if he 'found reading plans' too boring? How far would lawyer get if he didn't want to learn the laws of the state he wanted to practice in? How far would the would-be doctor get if he didn't learn biology or anatomy? The accountant that just got bored with all the theories of accounting or laws on taxation? How far would any of these would be professionals get if they specialized so specifically that they were practically unemployable right from the start. The answer is that they would all starve to death.
To my way of thinking, its all about making yourself as employable as you can be. 'Cause if you're banking on being the next John Lennon or Paul McCartney as a way of making a living, then you might as well add perpetually winning the lottery to your planned future income streams. As far as I can tell most (the vast majority) musicians are not stars (rock, classical or jazz). They are working stiffs like me except that they get to do something that they intrinsically enjoy. But to make a living they have to be flexible and IMO being able to proficiently sight read is a great way to increase your opportunities for employment.
(pedro who is very, very glad that he made sure his son learned to sight read music.)
