link exchange is old. It has almost no seo value, not to say that it doesnt have value to the user. dont get me wrong on that point.
seo wise, i think is like keyword stuffing.
It is a poor mans seo effort.

you can exchange link with those website which has higher pr to get higher pr, and i think it is good for your seo

Limited link exchange is good.
Aggressive link exchange is not good.

Link exchange isn't bad, it just depends on how you do it. Doing it excessively is against Google's guidelines. Exchange links only with relevant, quality sites!

i really don't see why link exchange is bad for SEO?

Link exchange is good. Especially IF the one you're going to link exchange has a good traffic. That will be one of a good source upon receiving your traffic.

I'm under the impression that Link Exchanges are frowned upon by Google because they deem it to be a manipulation tactic. From what I've read in their webmaster guide, engaging in Link Exchanges can actually hurt your google ranking.

One way links from similar sites are the best. Use keywords as anchor text.

One way links from similar sites are the best

Why? ..

Link exchange good when we get link with high page rank sites, it helps to gain traffic, so we can say that link exchange is not bad

I don't think it will bring any benefit plus it's quite hard to actually find a suitable website partner that is willing to compromise on the exchange. Furthermore, I believe search engine will also disregard the advantage coming from doing exchanges.

Originally Posted by John LA

Link exchanges will "leak" your rank to other sites. The rank that should have been yours will flow if you have high PR.

Yes, finding one-way link is much better. Social bookmarks, articles, Social networking and RSS feeds can give your site one-way relevant links.

Google never endorsed this technique. They want natural way of getting backlinks.

Originally Posted by boatman

link exchange is old. It has almost no seo value, not to say that it doesnt have value to the user. dont get me wrong on that point.
seo wise, i think is like keyword stuffing.
It is a poor mans seo effort.

What would you suggest?

Link exchange can be ONLY beneficial if done correctly and NOT excessively. Only exchange links with quality and relevant sites.

A "quality" site that engages in link exchanging? does such a thing exist??

link exchange is not very good nowdays. But anyway it is worth something