PhoneArena interviews the biggest iPhone fanboy

Some of you have probably heard of Rob Shoesmith – the man who said he'll camp in front of an Apple store for three weeks prior to the launch of the much-anticipated iPhone 5. Basically, if you just read through the news, you'll be left with the impression that Mr. Shoesmith is probably the biggest iPhone fanboy around, but there's more to this story than what most people know. Actually, Rob has come up with this crazy experiment - he wants to see if he can camp outside the store for a few weeks, without spending any money for food or whatever in the process. Madness? Not really. Interestingly, he intends to achieve this with the help of... well, pretty much everyone out there – from large companies to enterprising individuals seeking to gain a quick boost in popularity. The deal is simple – they send Rob food or some other useful product, while he publishes a post of gratitude on his personal blog. And just in case if you're wondering how his employer, iPhone app developer MEDL Mobile will react to his 3-week absence from work, well, let's just say we guess those guys won't mind it at all, as it seems Rob will be wearing these MEDL Mobile shirt and hat of his throughout this whole adventure, filled with much publicity and other useful stuff.

Now, we can actually sense those clouds of doubt starting to gather around, swinging everyone into the direction of thinking this guy is just doing it for the fame, so what better way to have it all clear, than to hear it from the horse's mouth, we say? Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to bring you the naked truth about the interesting figure of Rob Shoesmith – is he the biggest iPhone fanboy the world has ever seen, or just an enterprising individual who wouldn't miss an opportunity when he sees it? Our interview with him will reveal all that, and more...

PhoneArena: Hey Rob, thanks for accepting this interview. We'd like to jump straight to the point and ask you to tell us a bit about how you came up with this whole idea of the iPhone 5 experiment. Why did you decide to camp in front of an Apple store for as long as three weeks, before the device is actually released? Won't a few days get the job done to ensure you'll be the one to get the first unit, or that's not what the experiment is about?

Rob: Firstly I’m a massive tech and Apple fan and love iPhone launches and work for a major app development company MEDL Mobile. There is such a buzz and excitement around them. As a company Apple has such a huge marketing and media influence I thought it would be cool to see if it would be possible to live indirectly off this influence from donations from other companies and see how far I could take the idea. The sheer volume of items donated will mean I will have to be camped out for some time so I can review all them.

PhoneArena: We know that a lot of companies and people out there have already responded, sending you lots of different stuff, which sure proves your idea to be working for now. Do you believe companies and individuals will continue to be interested during the course of the experiment, and what's really in it for them?

Rob: I think they will. I have a distribution company that will forward any items sent to my home address over to a personal assistant company My Life Style PA who will be helping me once I’ve set up camp. In terms of what’s in it for the companies helping me out it’s all about getting their name and products out to a large number of people. I expect to generate millions of page views and this will be great-targeted exposure for them.  Companies know this hence the reason for their involvement.

Some of the items and services to have been donated so far include:

• Top London restaurants to deliver food to my tent.
• Personal trainer to keep me fit
• Belly dancer
• Magician
• iPhone cake
• Free style soccer player to perform
• Live bands to perform
• Mobile laundry service to wash my dirty clothes for me
• Personal assistant company to run errands
• Loads of gadgets
• Camping equipment including a tent
• Clothing

If anyone would like to donate any items they can do so by getting in touch with me at rob@medlmobile.com or sending me a tweet @shoesmith81.

PhoneArena: We guess that belly dancer will surely come in handy! Anyways, provided that everything goes according to plan, and you ultimately get your Apple iPhone 5 successfully, what will you be doing with all the goodies that remain? Are you going to take them home, or what?

Rob: The majority of the items donated will be auctioned off for charity. There are so many people worse off than I am and I feel its only fair for the items to go to a good cause.

PhoneArena: That's one very good cause indeed, Rob. So, tell us honestly – what's your main incentive here – being the first to buy the iPhone 5, or becoming very popular, for a very short amount of time? Is your company, MEDL Mobile backing you in some way?

Rob: It would be very cool if I was number 1 in getting my hands on the new iPhone but its not all about that. I work for an app developer MEDL Mobile and I’m sure I will make some new connections along the way. MEDL Mobile are happy for me to conduct the experiment as they are involved in the app development industry.

PhoneArena: What will you do after the three-week camping is over, are you getting back to your normal daily routines, or will be conceiving a new scheme to test your creativity and ingenuity – maybe for some other phone, or the iPad 3?

Rob: I have another experiment idea but not necessarily involving an Apple product launch as such. I’m still trying to formulate the idea in my head. The iPhone 5 experiment is the main focus at the minute so I haven’t had too much time to think further ahead. I think it’s important not to do the same thing twice.

I will be very keen to get back to my day job of marketing apps that my company MEDL Mobile have released and connecting with tech sites like yourselves.

There is a slight possibility of visiting a charity overseas to see where the proceeds of the charity money will be spent. I think that would be awesome!

PhoneArena: You bet! Thanks so much for your time, Rob. We wish you luck with the experiment!