I'm fairly certain some 3rd party developer, somewhere, is asking themselves the very same question..."can I write an app that'll allow someone to Qwerty within portrait view?".
The problem is that being a touchscreen, you're allowed only so much of a degree of sensitivity within a specific area, before the surrounding area reacts to the same touch. And some of you people out there have pretty fat fingers.
RIM probably tested a qwerty-style layout-in-portrait-mode early in the Storms development, but the smaller area per button likely lead to a lot of mistakes in typing.
So the Storm may not be for everyone - I guess you really have to be willing to accept both the good with the bad when it comes to touchscreen handhelds.
But RIM has a few new products coming out soon, for the people who adore their teeny buttons & trackball - so they've got something to cheer about too!
Personally, I rarely ever bang out a message or eMail with one hand - so the Storm is something I'd be interested to try out in the store. (Whenever that is...)