For The Forum Axeheads

So I'm still pretty upset over the MPA's decision to Satanize tab communities. I don't see the point in going over it again, but I was reading on PTA's forum and came across this. It's a sad, but true fact for alot of my generation of guitarists:

Skipping the first point (which is complete idiocy because the artist neither endorsed, much less created these community INTERPRETATIONS of tabs) I think he made alot of sense with the second.

Alot of young guitarists have been raised on one of the mixed bags of music-tabs. It's great on one hand but bad on the other. I never realized until my tab site got shut down how dependent on tabs I had become. I haven't really challenged myself in the playing-by-ear department, and I wonder how many teacher-taught guitarists suffer from the same handicap.

As I said, there's also an upside to the argument. You can use a tab to stimulate (insert joke here) creativity and give you a basis for your own rendition of songs. I've been working on Purple Haze alot lately, and the tab gave me a good frame, with all the orignaly foundation of the song laid out for me.

So for those of you that skip to the bottom of the paragraph, here's my question-Has the use of tabs, powertabs and guitar pro tabs inparticular, actually lowered the skill level of players?

I remember reading somewhere that Stevie Ray Vaughan never learned to read music. Not sure if that's true, but I know he was a true musician in that what he played came from his own head, not someone elses. So in a way the heads at the MPA have actually changed the way I play guitar-I'm going to be spending alot more time working on my ability to play by ear than in the past.

Also, a side note on one point the guy who posted this made I disagree with-Jimi Hendrix was not as awesome of an improv as he's made out to be. He was an awesome guitarist, but I think his solo abilities fell way behind the amazing way he played chords. Just my opnion.