By the time it was actually released, Apple's tablet computer was akin to a magical unicorn -- a fantasy beast seen by only the favored few, though many, many people told wild tales about it. But as it turns out, the iPad did have some magic tricks up its sleeve: it has "magically" provided Apple with a gateway into the enterprise -- and no, we're not referencing the Starship. We're talking about men and women in suits crunching numbers; a world where Apple hasn't been yet able to gain much ground. Well, until the iPad that is.

Latest reports indicate that at least half of the Fortune 100 companies are testing or actively using iPads. The enterprise's enthusiastic adoption of the iPad seems to have surprised even Steve Jobs, who said during a recent earnings call, "We haven't pushed [the iPad] real hard in business, but it's still being grabbed out of our hands." And although Apple may have not initially pushed the iPad in this sector, in mid-December the company advertised for a Verizon iPad system engineer with experience in "enterprise messaging and collaboration, VPN, WiFi and enterprise security technologies" along with "experience with Microsoft Exchange Active Sync and Exchange Server."

The benefits of a sleek, stylish tablet are obvious in media, marketing and any aesthetics-driven industry, but warehouse managers, factory owners, manufacturers, retail sales staff and operations managers -- the kind of folks you'd figure would be using a super-ruggedized tablet -- have also enthusiastically grabbed iPads from Apple's all-too-willing hands. Verizon Wireless recently announced that it will sell iPads that can connect to its network without an external Wi-Fi hotspot. If mobile hot spots are included in the Verizon iPad offering, Apple's tablet would be even more attractive to industrial-enterprise users, who often rely on multiple devices to access, process, record and provide data.

Frank A. Krueger, owner of Krueger Systems, Inc., which builds software for military engineering and scientific research, is particularly excited about the iPad on Verizon because of its huge customer base increase. "Creating things makes me happy," he says. "Some people say that the iPad is not good for creation because its keyboard is inefficient…this is a complete joke. One can create without a keyboard."

Kruger believes that app developers need to take the time to learn to break the mold of window-based apps and the mouse-keyboard paradigm, and that developers should experiment more with different user-interfaces to make that possible. He says that his iCircuit app [iTunes link] was his first attempt at "putting my money where my mouth is." iCircuit is a CAD-like program that allows electrical engineers and students to design and experiment with circuits. That combination of capability and ease of use is what's drawing industry to the iPad.

Justin Formella, Chief Information Officer of MBX Systems, a company that creates custom, end-to-end hardware solutions for software developers, is also excited about the move to Apple's tablet device. “For years it’s felt like we’ve had our hands tied with the poor performance of various Windows Mobile-based touch devices. With most of our enterprise software running as a web application, the iPad has become the perfect match for us as a low cost and high performance mobility solution."

MBX handles the whole deployment process, from configuration and system building to program logistics and support -- work that obviously demands rigorous organization. Formella says that using iPads has allowed MBX to cut the pick time for server components headed to the assembly line by 40%s. "We used to print tickets that listed all of the components required to fill an order, and then we'd scan each item with a barcode reader as it was picked from inventory," says Formella. "Now we have iPads that we’ve integrated with a Bluetooth barcode scanner mounted on the pick carts. Product barcodes are scanned directly into the iPad."

So, while there are plenty of solutions to adopting Apple's tablet platform for the enterprise, there are still major hurdles to jump before there's an actual adoption. Certain platform restrictions, the lack of total USB and Bluetooth support, and limited support for the enterprise crowd keeps the blue suits glued to their Windows machines. "The iPad is brilliant," Formella reminds us. "Now we’re just waiting for Apple to come around and really embrace the enterprise.”