Journey to the iPhone

Robert Shoesmith climbed into the yellow tent he had pitched outside the Apple store in London's Covent Garden, but it didn't help. He still shivered in his sleeping bag. The homeless man who used to live here came over and said, "Hey! Are you homeless, too?"

No, I'm here for an iPhone!

The 30-year-old Brit has been camped out here since Apple announced a new iPhone on October 4th. He waited in line for 10 days and nights to become the first person in the world to buy an iPhone 4S.

Robert named his operation the iPhone 5 Experiment. "Apple has a strong media presence, and I can use that influence to get through a few days without spending a penny by asking for donations from other companies or individuals." Robert's plan actually worked. As soon as his plan was announced, more than 150 companies sent him their products and services, and donations from individuals continued to arrive, and he soon had a tent, sleeping bag, coat and hat. During his time in line, several restaurants specially delivered meals for him, and some kind people baked bread for him to eat.

He had the occasional hiccup. When no one brought him water on the fourth day of his camp, he posted a video and text message: "Can someone give me some water? I'll give you my iPhone case in exchange!" Soon he was drinking the special water.

However, Robert's plan is not just to make ends meet. How can a long, boring wait in line be fun? People sent him items on his wish list -- a video game maker gave him a video game, a telecommunications company gave him free phone data and a candy company sent him hard-to-find goodies.

During his 10 days in line, he was almost a sight to see, with people coming every day to take a picture with the young man in a black jumper and light jeans. He served at least 50 people a day, and even the salespeople at the Apple store knew the prospective customer.

He was the envy of the tramps who lived nearby. During the camping, a barber went to cut his hair for him. Every day, he held the bear doll sent by people, ate snacks and posted photos taken by the photographer for him on the Internet. He also had a bodyguard who volunteered to protect him for free and ran errands for him.

There was no shortage of food and skittles, but he suffered a little. He was alone in the line at first, passing the time through the Windows of the Apple store counting bricks on the wall. He and his tent drowned in heavy rain in London. But the scariest scene came on the seventh day of camp. A little after 1 o 'clock in the night, Robert, who was asleep, heard the sound of four motorcycles, followed by a smash-and-grab. The Apple store in Covent Garden was robbed by robbers.

Robert's experiment has attracted a lot of media attention, from local newspapers in London to an interview with Al Jazeera. "If only there was a 'buy without waiting in line' app on the iPhone!" quipped local media.

On Oct. 14, as he popped into the Apple store to buy a phone, more than 20 photographers were on hand to snap the image. Behind him, nearly a thousand people lined up to buy the new iPhone.

Unfortunately, determined to win, Robert miscalculated the time zone, and a Japanese man bought the iPhone 4S in the first of seven countries around the world.

However, he didn't care about losing the first place, so he was so sleepy that as soon as he got home, he threw himself on the couch and slept for 16 hours. "This is not an iPhone for a weak-willed person," he said.

After he woke up, Robert continued to enjoy the gifts: a travel company had already arranged a trip to Dubai for him after he bought his mobile phone.