After thinking about it in the post-announcement fallout, though it was clear they were taking a straight shot across Apple's bow, it seems to me that Amazon is really only posing a threat to part of Apple's strategy with the iPad. At least at this stage and iteration, I'm seeing the Kindle Fire (HD) as a "media device", primarily designed to consume movies/television/music/books, play games, and surf the web, with not much other functionality. I realize this makes up a massive chunk of consumer-computer interactivity, but it seems to neglect a host of other functions and purposes which the iPad deftly accomodates.

So, to sum it up: the Kindle Fire (HD) is a "media device", and the iPad is a "computing platform". Thoughts?

I thought that the iPad was "only a media device" still. Or is that only when asking someone who owns an 18" laptop that never leaves their desk?

Here's more food-for-thought: theverge.com

"The Kindle Fire HD is a device built for the future of consumption, not computing. The only way Amazon can succeed is if it does so on Amazon's terms: winning the long game of low price points and high total retail sales. It's a throw of the dice, but Amazon is uniquely positioned to make that bet."

Seriously though, I think that Amazon has enough to offer by way of movies, music, books, etc that they will establish themselves as a very serious competitor in that field. And that's step one.
Apple didn't step into the spotlight "fully-armed" with all their studio agreements, apps, and 3rd party hardware accessories. If Amazon can get a firm grip on media consumption they'll be well poised to take a shot at productivity and computation. I'm sure there are plenty of developers and accessory makers that are not interested in Android's sinking tablet-ship. Amazon looks mighty promising for those desperate folk.

Hmmm... I wonder how long Google will tolerate it, or if they have the power to stop it. They get zero benefit from the Kindle Fire devices, and it is now competing in their space in a serious way. It will be interesting if anything develops of this potentional friction point.

To your point, John, though they have not posed any threat to the iPad's dominance thus far, Android tablets - and soon Windows tablets - offer the same full-fledged computing platform that the iPad does. Were they wrong to go that route in the post-PC era, or is Amazon creating a novelty niche?

I have to say that, as a former Android tablet user, I disagree with your statement that: "Android tablets - and soon Windows tablets - offer the same full-fledged computing platform that the iPad does."
Here's why: It's true that Android tablets have several apps for computing and myriad accessories for input. The problem is that none of these are as refined, as stable, or even as simple to use as their rivals on the iPad. You could say the same about so many other categories between the two; media, social networking, gaming, etc. Don't get me wrong, they have LOADS of options. Just not the same quality. And I would suggest that an Android user that disagrees has not sat down with an iPad and tried the Dark Side's kool-aid.

But to support my previous argument: I think that Amazon has a Chance (Yes, that's with a capital "C" because it's a once in a "lifetime" chance) to develop a following for their devices and media, both in consumers and developers, and then take their products to the next level. They have a distinct advantage over Google because they only have a handful of devices to design for. They already have cloud storage, media, adverts, apps market, etc in place. If they could design a few solid apps similar to word/ pages, excel/ numbers, etc and integrate some work management they could hit paydirt.
Will they? Probably not. The latter step requires success with their current action and I don't think it will be enough. But the potential is there.