Apple iPad fastest-growing SMB technology, data suggests

I bet this data revelation surprises very few people who take the time (thank you) to read this column: It turns out that the Apple iPad is the fastest growing technology among small businesses.

The research, gathered by The Business Journals, found that the use of Apple iPads quadrupled between 2010 and 2011, reaching an adoption rate of approximately 34 percent among small and midsize businesses. The roughly 1,400 business owners and executives surveyed represented companies with anywhere from 5 to 499 employees.

See also: CNET’s live blog of iPad event | Why I will buy a new iPad | Available in stores March 16 | ZDNet live analysis | iPad is fastest-growing SMB tech

The motivation for the pace of iPad penetration into this segment? Accessibility, which trumped productivity and efficiency when it came to the factors driving technology purchases, The Business Journals reported.

I would argue that in this case, it's kind of the same thing.

Close to 75 percent of all the surveyed SMB executives were "very or somewhat familiar" with the iPad device, the research found.

Sort of makes me wonder whether that other 25 percent uses much technology at all within their business operations.