Would people be as disappointed if Apple released iPhone 4S as iPhone 5?

Probably.

The Big New Feature is the voice thing, and it really needs to prove itself in the field -- it risks being written off as a gimmick, and one that'll make you self-conscious whenever you try to use it.

The potential excitement is clouded by skepticism.

Without that, what's left? International roaming is something a small fraction of us will use. Sprint as a carrier is hardly a fundamental transformation. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll take the incremental improvements to CPU and camera and software (I'm about to replace an Android on its last legs) but they fail to fascinate.