6. Going it alone

Some companies however, choose to define their own path and maintain control of their computers.

The Apple range of computing devices is one such company.  It has its own operating system and a complete set of peripheral equipment that simply plug in and work without any problem.

Because of this, there is no need for a published standard. 

In terms of software development, creating an 'App' for their tablet devices requires an Apple developer licence and use of the approved software and hardware environment.

The advantage of this 'walled garden' approach is that standards and compatibility are maintained. The disadvantage is the reduced flexibility in the software development environments that can be used.

However, other software and hardware platforms are available such as Android that allow for more flexibility in the development environments that can be used, they also offer free SDK (software development kit). These apps work with Android powered mobile devices.

This is a classic case of prorietary versus open source standards.