this is a thread in response to this:
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=32050

Screen rotation introduces a lot of problems, and I would like to state why I am very happy that there is no screen rotation on the N900. I say this from the standpoint of a developer AND user:

screen rotation introduces a lot of extra work in the UI department. I've written Android apps before, and you basically have to design two UIs. You have to test two UIs and you have to think about how you integrate them in your app to play well.

testing = 30% of the whole development cycle. if I have to increase my testing twofold (or maybe not by a factor of two, but still) I have to put more work into the whole project.
Designing the UI takes quite some work. If I have to do it twice, it is twice as much work.

and from a usability perspective, it does one of the worst things you can do: it creates an inconsistent user experience.

we all are geeks, and we like features and things to show off, but auto screen rotation is not the WTG.

the Android G1 does it at least right in the usability department, as it only rotates when you slide open the keyboard. that makes sense for the user. But the Palm Pre is even better here in not disrupting the user experience and usability.

so, please, no autorotation, no rotation at all, thanks.