Here’s what I had to say about the Fire in the column I wrote about it: “I’m impressed by the Fire, and I think millions will buy it and love it. Apple’s finally got big-time competition for tablet computers.”
Do I prefer the Fire over the iPad? No way. But for $199, it’s really impressive.
That’s because the Fire is exceptionally easy to use, with virtually no learning curve. You take it out of the box, and you can pretty much start using it for just the sort of things you’d expect from a tablet computer — watching TV shows and movies, reading books and playing games. And for $199, the Kindle is a real bargain.
Here’s an article from Web100 with some other views of what the Fire does (and does not) have to offer.
ALLAN HOFFMAN 
allan, ireturned mine. couldn’t get into it. many other customers had the same problem. so, i beg to differ with you re,”…easy to use…. no learing curve…”
very informative review of the “fire”…. tells me just what i have been wondering about it, but i could not have articulated my questions until you answered them ! and i appreciate your perspective re those of us who are not all that chummy with the ipad yet!