Rob Shoesmith doesn't need an official release date for the iPhone 5 to get in line, he just gets in line. Now. No matter that some people believe the next iPhone won't be out until October; Shoesmith is already there. First in line.

Crazy, right?

Yeah. Crazy like a fox.

See, Shoesmith is a marketer, and although he wants an iPhone 5 pretty badly, this whole thing is also an "experiement" (read: creative PR campaign) to him.

He set up camp outside an Apple store in London's Covent Gardens district with one rule: Shoesmit can't spend any of his own money. His scheme is to survive only on donations and sponsorships. Which, of course, this being the world we live in, are flying in.

He is reported to have received over thousands of dollars worth of goods so far, ranging from blankets to solar chargers to personal hygeine products to food to a box of garden gnomes. (Yes. Garden gnomes.)

So, regardless of when the iPhone 5 comes out, at least one Apple fanboy won't go home dissapointed. Follow along with Shoesmith's adventure, see all of his free stuff, and check out all of his sponsors on his blog here and on Twitter here. 

Edit: Despite multiple reports to the contrary, Rob is not actually on the street yet. He plans to be out there for "several weeks", although the exact dates have not yet been set. He is, however, piling up the swag (which he claims on Twitter will go to charity) and the fame (which is farily substantial right now). We'll let you know when he goes live...

Via TechCrunch

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