I can see how they would be useful - if you could access them. The scrolling list of running apps is so big that if I have more than three notifications they are hidden at the bottom of the screen and you have to scroll through them. Of course I'm also used to the screen size of the Droid X but still, real estate is limited here, people, let me use it like I want!
Of course once this things gets rooted all of that will be customizable, I'm sure.