Most of the times browsing on the ipad is just fine. iOS 5 fixed many of the major issues I hated about using the iPad to surf, but one thing that really bothers me about using my phone to browse is the fact that it reloads the web page every time I switch between them. It gets really annoying when you have to re-scroll to get back to where you were. There are also some sites I visit which do not have a mobile version and are really not optimal to view on my phone. Requires a lot of pinch to zoom to enlarge a super tiny link which is nestled in a bunch of other links. Minor annoyances for sure, but they tend to detract from the browsing experience sometimes.

I don't have it but based on advertised size I don't find Fire to be tiny
True, 7" is a decent amount of real estate to work with. Compared to a desktop monitor (or in the consultants case, the iPad screen) it is definitely smaller. However I look at it like this: the device is primarily meant to be used to read books. If the screen size is optimal for reading an ebook and has worked with their other devices, why fix what's not broken? If you're buying the device to be used to surf and watch videos and other stuff, then its probably not the best choice to buy. If you're buying it to mainly read books and occasionally use the other features, then the screen size will most likely not be an issue.

As far as I've seen its gotten stellar reviews when it comes to using it for reading books, and for me (as a person who views this as an e-reader, not a tablet) that should be the most important thing.