Dubai: A Dubai-based business consultant who flew to London to get the new iPhone 4 has described the trip as being "absolutely worth it".
Alex Lee, 27, spent over 32 hours at the head of the line outside Apple's flagship store on London's Regent Street last week. But he had to wait as Apple gave pre-order customers priority.
Lee, who specially rearranged his flight home to Canada via London, purchased four iPhone 4s in the UK taking the total cost of his trip to over £4,000 (Dh22,123).
He said: "Everybody has a passion and mine is meeting people from around the world. I am a very social person and these launches break down barriers between cultures. Everybody in the line has something in common so it is very easy to make friends. I also made some great business contacts.
"Furthermore, I really like the product. It is superior to every other phone on the market including previous generation iPhones. The new model features video conferencing so I can use the camera to speak to people all over the world."
Lee, who was accompanied by his sister, has attended over ten Apple product launches and says the camaraderie is always fantastic.
"The atmosphere in the queue was great; people kept your place if you had to go to the bathroom and everybody took turns to buy food and drink. We also had free Wi-fi internet access courtesy of Apple. The weather in London was ok but coming from the heat of Dubai it still felt pretty cool and damp in the evenings," Lee said.
Lee was not too despondent at failing to be the first person to get hold of the new iPhone 4 despite being first in line. However, he has contacted Apple CEO Steve Jobs about the incident.
Internet rumours
He said: "I contacted the Apple store in the UK to pre-order an iPhone 4 but their systems were down so they said they would call me. However, they never got back in touch and I began to hear rumours on the internet that Apple was cancelling some pre-orders. I decided the best course of action was to fly to London and join the queue.
"An Apple public relations executive in London said I would not have a problem as I was first in line. But as the launch time moved closer she began to divide the queue into those who had pre-orders and those who did not. Apple fans are a tight knit community and people were telling her that I was the first in line; there was a bit of controversy.
"At one point a man from Norway just came and sat in front of me; let's just say he was quickly removed by some of the people waiting behind. The first guy to get his hands on the iPhone 4 had only waited half the time I had been there.
"He actually felt really bad about the way things had worked out and he told me he did not know what had happened. I have already emailed Steve Jobs and I have had tonnes of sympathy on Twitter."
Would you go to that extent to buy something you love? Or do you think this is over the top?
