It's not unusual for Apple fans to queue up early for the latest iPhone. In fact there are a some dedicated followers who like to make something of a habit of it.
But when people have been queuing up before the phone is even announced? Well, that's a little bit different.
Rob Shoesmith, a 30-year-old from Coventry who works in PR and marketing, has been in line for the latest iPhone outside the Apple Store in Covent Garden, London, since the morning of 4 October - some 12 hours before the phone was announced.
Knowing the announcement of a new phone was due it made sense to get there early, he said. But one unfortunate consequence of that choice was that he named his blog 'The iPhone 5 Experiment', while the phone, when it was eventually announced, was actually named the iPhone 4S.
Even so, Shoesmith had not been deterred. He has remained at his post, in his queue of one, and is still there today waiting for Friday 14 October when the phone will be released and he can go home.
Shoesmith is not just your garden-variety fanboy, however. As he explains on his website, he embarked on his 10-day mission as a kind of professional marketing experiment. Until the phone is released he will be utterly reliant on donations of food and equipment from businesses and local people, and will use the experience as an attempt to see what kind of contacts, media coverage and brand equity he can create.
In the process, however, Shoesmith says he has learned more than he had bargained for. Firstly, he's discovered that staying in one place on your own is a lot harder than it looks.
"It's been a real eye-opener to be honest," he told the Huffington Post UK. "I have really high quality equipment and yet I'm still finding it really really hard. I'm so knackered it's unbelievable. It's so cold at night."
Shoesmith has also been witness to a break-in at the Apple store by a gang of masked motorcyclists, and has also befriended the local homeless community - who he says will receive his sleeping bag and other queuing 'equipment' when he finally goes home.
"I've spoken to a lot of homeless people since I've been here, and it's just been amazing," he said. "There is one guy I've spoken to who actually has a Macbook and he comes to the Apple Store to connect to WiFi outside the store, because he's trying to learn new skills to get off the streets.
"It's been quite humbling to see that I've got all this stuff, but the homeless people don't have anything. I'm going to be giving a lot of it away to charity when I'm finished."
Shoesmith picked a significant week for his project. Let alone the new phone, the death of Apple founder Steve Jobs has seen a stream of people coming to the Covent Garden store to leave tributes and pay their respects to the tech innovator. When he first heard about what had happened Shoesmith tried to keep a low profile, he said. However, Shoesmith does owe more to Apple and Steve Jobs than your average iPhone user.
"I used to work as a bin man for Coventry City Council," he said. "Then I came across a company called MedlMobile who I now work for. I submitted an iPhone app idea to them and it generated a lot of press coverage and now I work in PR as a result of Apple. My career wasn't really going anywhere but now it's looking really, really positive. Apple has been life changing for me."
Luckily Shoesmith has not been alone in his quest - even if the only other people in London queueing for an iPhone are sadly waiting outside a different branch of the Apple store.
He says he's met more people in the last seven days than in he has in years, has had gifts of food and equipment from strangers and has even been entertained by a rapper who came down to give him a private concert. At some point this week he said a belly dancer from Scotland had promised to pay him a visit too. Eventually, presumably, some others will join the queue and he can get some real sleep.
For now, however, Shoesmith is just hoping he will make it to the end.
"I'll take it one day at a time and in twenty minute spells," he said. "If I can make it to Friday, it's only a few more days, then it might help those people who will be out on the streets for a lot longer than I am."