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Is the Rumored Built-In Bumper for the iPhone 5 a Good Idea or a Annoying Work-around?

To solve the antenna and reception problems that have dogged the iPhone 4, rumors of a built-in rubberized bumper on the iPhone 5 will “fix” the problem.

But what if I don’t want that stupid bumper?!
Whenever I’m critical of Apple, Steve Jobs, the iPhone 4, or the iPad, invariably the Apple devoteés come out of the woodwork and want to tar and feather me. So let me be clear: I’m in the Apple cult, too. Nothing but Macs and iPhones in this household, baby. Thus, my Apple criticism is nothing more than tough love for the coolest technology company on earth.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about this “bumper.”
I don’t like the bumper. I don’t want the bumper on my iPhone 4. I shouldn’t have to put it on for it not to drop its calls.
I resent the bumper. I yell at it from time to time. Chew on it. It brings out the worst in me.

I never had any problems with the antenna, signal strength, or attenuation with my iPhone 3Gs or with my cheap, old Blackberry freebie. My iPhone 4 — which, by the way, is amazing — shouldn’t need a bumper to work at the same level as my old Sprint Blackberry.
Sure, I get it — the iPhone 4 is a far cry in technology from my crappy old Blackberry. But I expect a higher level of excellence and precision from Apple. After all, they have built that incredible $100 million dollar facility to test their antennas, signal strength, and reception. That place is so cool that I want to go live there! But for all of the money and resources that Apple has pumped into their “reception lab,” the iPhone 4 underperforms.
And sorry Apple — the bumper isn’t a “solution.” It’s nothing more than a work-around.
But it gets worse: now, rumors abound that the iPhone 5 is going to perhaps build the bumper directly into the housing of the iPhone itself. So rather than fixing the problem, Apple is just going to make their bumper work-around a permanent feature!
In addition to not liking this development in principle, the other thing to consider is how is it going to affect the ever-bumpered iPhone 5′s fit into iPhone 5 cases? Shell cases always snap around the iPhone. but a rubberized bumper around the perimeter is going to make using other cases on the iPhone 5 an impossibility. It isn’t a problem for the iPhone 4, since the bumper is removable. But if the iPhone 5 has a glued-on bumper, it will be the only “case” you’ll ever be able to use for your iPhone 5.
I understand that R&D-ing for Apple is quite expensive, and that they sunk a lot of money and man-power into the iPhone 4. They clearly are not ready to go back to the drawing board and come out with a completely new piece of technology (especially if the iPhone 5′s release is being fast-tracked for early 2011, as leading tech news sources are reporting). But Apple needs to get their antennas, signal reception, and attenuation technology in order for the iPhone 5 without affixing a permanent bumper to it.
Letting this design flaw slide could spell the end of the golden era for Apple and a lackluster performance for the iPhone 5.
What Do you think? Does the rumored built-in iPhone 5 bumper irk you?