> We all know that Android would have this if it wasn't for patents.
No, we don't. Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't. Now that there is a viable alternative that people are used to, I don't think bouncing would be used if the patent were to be invalidated tomorrow.
The only reason to use the bounceback early on was because (a) no alternatives had been developed yet and bounceback was adequate, and (b) it appeased all the early adopter Apple fanbois.
> Plus if you are scrolling slowly and reading as you go, having a litte bit of background show (part of the effect) is little difference from showing a flash of colour.
You completely missed my point. It has nothing to do with scrolling while reading. It only has to do with when I'm at the top or bottom of a page/list.