but remember, with good PR is more easy to get boog backlinks in link exchanges..
Wanna bet google will crack down on that sometime in the near future?
It’s already obfuscating links as best it can, trying to confuse the issue.
Not an easy feat for google to sort this, but I have no doubt they are trying and sooner or later they will succeed. Now they are concentrating on blackhatters, and they are far from done there.
So, meanwhile, yes, you are right, it helps getting good links. And they are important when climbing up the google ladder. But don’t count on that to last, always be careful who you link to and check why the PR is high. Is it because the site deserves it or is it a linking scheme?