I’m writing a post about your brilliant commentary right now, and then I noticed your remarks apply most perfectly to *multipurpose digital devices* (say, iPhone) used as e-book readers than to dedicated devices (i.e. Kindle). In the second case, the visual social signage is still pretty much present (minus the cover to glance at) and the ambiguity doesn’t manifest itself so clearly.

I still think your point pretty much applies to multipurpose devices that can work in a variety of modes and don’t really communicate which other device they are substituting for in any given moment. Maybe a “vocabulary” of sorts, using subtle cues, visual or otherwise? (think your ‘magic phone’ emitting a dim colored glow that changes hue depending on their use, green for reading, blue for camera, red for browsing, etc.)

You’ve provided a lot of food for thought. Thanks for sharing :)

I was in love with this awesome device, a Christmas present from my husband, until I learned of his feelings about the click sound. It’s a tragic example of not respecting the reader’s context when designing the device.