If you honestly want an explanation, then I will try to help. You call this potential increase in size "minuscule", but let me give you two things to think about...
1. Except for Apple, no one knows what the eventual size will be, so in the end it could seem like a minuscule increase, and it could seem much more than this.
2. What is minuscule to you is not necessarily minuscule to me, or anyone else for that matter.
If you want and prefer a size increase, that's great and I certainly am not interested in persuading you otherwise. Personally, I would prefer the same size handset, but could be okay with a very small overall increase. I won't know if it is too big until i see and hold it myself, so only time will tell for me.
Just be aware that everyone has their own opinions on this and different perceptions and needs. I don't think you are going to end up understanding our thinking on this. We all agree that a larger screen is more usable, but if this means that the handset gets bigger, then a lot of people (including me), do not want this.
Ok you know how some people get into a habit of something?
And then if change happens, they don't like it?
You understand that notion right?
Thats what I suspect may be happening and this is a reasonable assumption because it is a generally common human phenomenon.
At a certain point (or age even, no age-ism) we may make certain choices that are "inspired" by something and the way we form those thoughts can sometimes be "influenced" by certain hidden agendas in our conscious and sub-concious minds.
We are all simply the totality of our socially transmitted behavior patterns, morals, ideas, arts, beliefs, and all other products of human work and thought.
You say we are all balanced and equal and nobody's opinion is more valid than the other, but I say that is not reality. Humans are complex, volatile bipedal organs that support a brain, and this brain function is not always flawless, logical, or perfect.
What drives a man to think that the current body style is so perfect that they don't want a larger body style? Small hands? Pocket Space? If you can comfortably hold an IP4 you will similarly be able to grip the IP5, the difference between the two can't possibly change any logistical positioning in any significant way. The size difference is too small.
The question is WHY? Why, really, don't you want it bigger? The answer lies in your psychological profile, not in the merit of the logic behind ergonomics and the physical manifestation and consequences of your ownership experience.
Finally, those personal quirks of choice and decision making/inspecting of the wares may reflect your own method of choosing whats right, maybe its how your family taught you to be when you asses goods, or maybe its your own personal thought process; but they don't affect mass or public notions.
Most people want a bigger screen. The iPhone 1 started with 3.5 and that was a long time ago. Other companies have explored the different sizes now that larger sizes are possible and the 3.5 is not necessarily the sweet spot. It just was.
