I'll give up smooth scrolling in the browser so that I can run 50+ apps at the same time any day of the week - but I almost always have smooth scrolling in the web browser even when playing music anyways.

If the transitions bother you so much, turn them off completely then.

Also, remember, this is not the 5th and final step in Maemo's evolution. The 5th step is supposed to be what ends up competing with stuff like the iPhone, not the N900. So everything that would go into always making scrolling super smooth and other presentation bits are going to be concentrated at that point, not as much for Maemo 5.