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This is nice PR by Nokia but not much more. Nokia are wrong in saying that they are the first to do this. Granted, Apple didn't realese STL files (which are a

by jonemo 14y ago

This is nice PR by Nokia but not much more. Nokia are wrong in saying that they are the first to do this. Granted, Apple didn't realese STL files (which are a huge list of coordinates describing the vertices of triangles). But for several years now Apple released very detailed engineering drawings of their products publicly: https://developer.apple.com/resources/cases/ https://developer.apple.com/resources/cases/. These drawings are actually useful for someone who wants to design and make their own case, whereas Nokia's STL files only let you reproduce whatever Nokia designed for you (modifying STL meshes is possible but the format limits the possibilities). I also don't understand why Nokia puts a "noncommercial personal use only" license on this. Isn't an accessories ecosystem something they should want? I would have loved to use this design for adding this Nokia phone to an online customization tool for iPhone cases which I run. Thanks to this license my website will stay iPhone4/5 only. Footnote: One of the Nokia downloads claims to be "mechanical drawings" but it only contains STL files. Footnote 2: And why on earth do I have to register as a Nokia developer to get this?

graeham 14y ago
Someone capable enough to design STL files from a dimensioned drawing is probably also capable enough to make a dimensioned drawing using calipers and the phone. I agree that it is a PR thing, but I also see that what they are doing as quite different from Apple. Apple is enabling hardware developers, Nokia is letting people who don't have mechanical skills make the cases. I think what would have been more interesting is if Nokia had released both STL as well as CAD files, which would allow for the modification that you point out.