Who says google really prefers it?
I don’t play that game. I produced a google authority site doing just what you said – creating quality content.
When I first started out I linked like crazy – after a year or so I took them all down because most had gone bad and I haven’t linked to much of anything except a handful of sites since.
I prefer linking to authority sites and not expecting anything back. You can count the number of link exchanges I have done in 5 years on your fingers.
You can call me mad and you can call me crazy and you can say I don’t know what I’m talking about – (all of which is likely true 
) – but I did produce an authority site on that principle.
The proof is in the pudding.
Linking beyond some links going out to a few really good sites isn’t necessary IMO. When you first get started it helps the spiders to find you, so you need some incoming links to start. But beyond that I think it’s a lot of hype and the days when it used to work like a charm are gone.
You can spend your time securing links, or you can spend your time creating a unique site. Both can be frustrating, but at least with a unique site I got something to show for it.
Notice I said unique, and not huge or anything. Different from what’s out there. That ought to be enough of a challenge without messing around with links.
And once your site is remarkable, incoming links come all on their own.
And THAT is what google really likes.