Is it that hard to hit the "home" button and see you have a "missed call" or a "SMS/MMS"? I mean you have several programs for text that allow you to not only read the message but also reply to it within the lock screen...and emails, we wont get into that, i personally dont see why people are so obsessed with seeing their emails on demand, i personally hate emails and 100% prefer to use some sort of messaging system...(and yes, i know some people get important emails worthy of notification during the day, and for those people, maybe they should carry a blackberry with their iPhone, like i do for work).
Is the indicator really that important? I always found it kind of useless, especially since i check my phone often enough to render it unnecessary.