Answer: it absolutley does not. For me, the point of having a hardware-kb is twofold:
1.) being able to type properly, on real keys. You know.
2.) being able to see the whole screen while typing.

On the N900, I would routinely use the arrow keys for moving the cursor by just a few characters, or rows. For moving it a longer distance (or to a different text field... ), I would just tap that area on the display - like clicking on a desktop. You know. Arrow keys again if I missed it by a char or two. Perfect.
All that while with no vkb blocking the view ever, you could keep the text of a whole e-mail visible. Perfect.