When I first experienced Mac OS X (10.1) in a CompUSA store, that's what struck me first as being AWESOME. Little did I know that was only the beginning.
I change the position of mine around from time to time, depending on what I'm working on. If I'm focused, I cannot be bothered by something as trivial as icon magnification. Otherwise, I love the way it moves and feels.
Need to make an icon magnify temporarily when you have set to no magnification? Simple. Just hold down Control and Shift and move over the dock and its just as if you had the magnification turned on.