@newagemac: I am sorry for the delay in answering. I was at a concert. Here goes:
Since you are apparently too lazy to watch the keynote yourself, here it is. In the top left corner it says Customize UI but we don't really know what that is because they didn't talk about it. Nor did they talk about many of the other things you see in those screens. But anyone can clearly see even from the limited two little slides they put up that the other 190 new features aren't nearly as "insignificant" as you claim. And it doesn't take a developer to understand that.
If I was lazy to watch the full keynote, you were on the other hand lazy enough to read my answers with attention. I choose my words carefully, so read them with the same degree of care. Most of what you said is stuff I actually said before, or that I agree with.
Regarding the picture posted, I did see the picture before your post. It still says nothing regarding UI interface. What it says, however, is that
developers will have at their hand (because the picture is targeted at
developers) new tools for designing UI interface within their apps. Never has a developer been allowed to mess with the way the iOS, as an OS, works.
And let me clarify something else for you. They actually added 1500 new APIs in iOS5. You may not understand the significance of that but developers do.
Didn't say anything against that, now did I?; I focused solely on the UI.
THAT was my main idea. So this bit is irrelevant; in particular because I fully agree adding the 1500 APIs or the 190 extra features are an important step.
Those APIs are what makes the apps in the iOS App Store so superior to what you find in Android's Marketplace. The Apps themselves are what are most important to end users. Not some skin for kids to play around with that actually does nothing. If you are looking for Apple to get rid of its industry leading UI "just because" then you might need to go find a different OS that puts "level of boredomeness" above usability, productivity, and design.
Here's another perfect example of where we agree fully. In fact, let me quote part of my first post in this topic:
Mind you, I still find the iPhone the better product. UI and spec-for-spec comparisons notwithstanding, the AppStore is/has been/will be the iPhone's main Gun. The quality and quantity of apps overwhelms any other.
Also, regarding Android:
You don't get bored of those UIs so easily.
Of the apps, perhaps 
.
Finally,
The iPhone did not become popular because it was a new way of different things. It became popular because it was a better way of doing things. Think about that difference for a second whenever you think they need to change something just because you are bored with how it looks. There is a significant difference there.
So you think Apple should remain on the same UI for eternity? Being "better" doesn't mean being "good". It means being "better than the other one". Being "better" can mean being "bad" if the "other one" is "awful". Note that I am not saying iOS isn't good. It's great. But there's "better" than "great". There's "awesome". There's "fantastic". There's "excellent". There's "phenomenal". There's a lot of different things that Apple, as a company, actually
assumes as its own goals.
If it was any other company, I'd let it aside. Companies have no moral obligation to be competent or try to do their best. Companies do what they want and it is none of my, yours, or anyone else's business. However, if a company publicly admits they want to be the
Best, and that they struggle and fight for that, then I expect them to deliver that product.
Currently there is virtually nothing in Apple's iOS (we're talking strictly OS here, not Apps) that cannot replicated, in some forms even better, by its main competitor. Apple used to be the one making breakthroughs. OS was a breakthrough when iPhone 2G. Mostly because of what? You guessed it: the UI. The Appstore wasn't even introduced until the iPhone 3G! So you can see how important the UI actually is for a product. And guess what: if its UI wasn't as great as it was at the time, there wouldn't be a good enough user base for a reliable App Store. The reason the App Store is so great is because developers took interest... partly (perhaps mostly?) because of its huge user base. Without the inovative UI Apple presented at the time, you can forget about the AppStore's success today. Another example of UI's importance: Windows Phone 7. With its tiny store, do you think tech folks would be as enthusiastic with it as they are if it wasn't for the UI? If UI isn't important, why do you think Windows 8 will have a huge UI revamp? It's not like it's needed in order for the programs to work as well as they do now.
P.S. Please do not come justifying why you think iOS is better. I know why I think iOS is better. Doesn't change the fact I think the UI is - as I see it - lacking.
This is why Apple will probably never change the "grid of icons" which is what most people are referring to when they say they are bored with how it looks. I have the apps on my home screen that I use regularly. Please explain a faster, more productive way to access those apps than having the icon for the app directly accessible. I'll be waiting to hear. And if you can come up with a faster way, I think Apple will be interested in hearing as well.
Woah, you surely start with a bold sentence there. Apple will probably never change? I wonder why Windows 95 isn't 95 still. Why did it go 98, ME, XP, Vista, 7? Why did OS X go through all those felines? Why did Android go through all those phases? Just "cause"? Note how the UI-main concept didn't change that much; Windows works - in a basic view - the same way it did 10 years ago: it's still icons and windows of icons all over the place. But the way you can do things changed. Before you had no previews on the superbar, no possibilities to install docks, no widgets, no drag-to-expand. The way some tasks were performed is now much more elegant and easy. That doesn't drive away from the main UI concept. In fact, you should (once again) notice how I say on my post:
By overhaul I don't mean a "let's totally start over" approach
Want an example of a good UI modification by apple? Multi-touch gestures introduced in iOS 5. Was it enough? In my opinion no. But it was an evolution. Another example? The bottom bar you get to access recent apps (iOS 4). The notification system (iOS 5). These are proof that Apple will not stick to the simplistic grid-of-icons. Apple realizes the importance of the UI: so much that sues Samsung for copying the look and feel of the iDevices.
I am a user. And as a user, I am entitled to an opinion, as long as I justify it correctly. Just like you are. In consciousness, I think I did. It's me, you, and everyone else they are trying to please. So if I am not pleased, and if people feel underwhelmed, it's because they failed at their commitment of being the Best.
I do not know of a "faster, more productive way to access those apps". I do not have to. I am not Apple, I do not assume as a personal goal to be the Best at smartphone industry. I expect Apple to inovate, and not I. If I did Apple's work, why would I pay them or be interested in them in the first place?
One does not need to know the solution to identify a problem.