The Who Farm five left New Yorkers with more questions than answers after Apple's iPhone 3G was officially launched on July 11th in a fire storm of media attention. When the smoke cleared at the Fifth Avenue Apple store, rumors began to swirl that Daniel Bowmen Simon and the rest of The Who farmers disappeared into the masses without their coveted iPhones in hand. Other websites dismissed the group as whack jobs and publicity hounds who never intended to own an iPhone at all. In both cases the rumors could not have been further from the truth.
I spoke to Daniel at length by phone about his grueling line sitting experience, the Guinness World Record set outside the Apple store and about the power of iPhone. I'm convinced that Daniel Bowmen Simon (on right) and Heyward Gignilliat (on left) are not a couple of mindless kooks. They are self-described crazy ones, a reference Daniel made to innovators that think different as seen in an old Apple TV ad, "Here's To The Crazy Ones"
The Who Farm crew see themselves as authentic solutionists bent on creating a model for healthy, economical and sustainable living everywhere. The fact that their sights are set on planting an organic farm on the front lawn of the White House certainly qualifies them as crazy. It's that kind of out-of-bounds thinking that causes people to stop and pay attention to these eclectic agents of change.
Daniel Bowmen Simon owns a MacBook Pro describing himself as a committed Apple fanatic. He also now owns a 16GB Black iPhone 3G he called "amazing" except for the fact that the battery life has much to be desired. Heyward Gignilliat upgraded to iPhone 3G from his original iPhone and the group did leave Apple's flagship location with a set of iPhones for both John McCain and Barack Obama. Daniel quickly admitted he's still not sure how he will get the phones delivered. He also described his week long line sitting ordeal as "a total blast, but extremely difficult", suggesting that others avoid it if possible. The fact that New York City would not allow tents, made for daily hand-to-hand combat with the elements.
About that world record, Guinness confirmed The Who Farm did indeed establish a new Guinness World Record for "The longest time queuing for a product launch" according to Simon who told the iPhone Savior that final paperwork for the record is awaiting completion. No small achievement to be sure.
"My father thinks I'm nuts. He told me I had better things to do than to wait in a line," said Simon, It turns out that his Dad is not the only one holding that opinion. "We set a new world record," said Simon, "We didn't break an old one. We were there to have fun and talk about solutions."
The Who Farm are just getting started according to Daniel Bowmen Simon, still intent on planting an organic farm on the White House Lawn with the help of one million signatures applied to their on line petition. "We're looking for synergy to get enough signatures by election time," Daniel said, "We've still got a few things up our sleeves for the American people, we are about to buy a school bus, so stay tuned."
Who Farm Yoga session
If Daniel Bowmen Simon and Heyward Gignilliat are whack jobs, then their brand of crazy is going to feed a lot of people and educate us all on the merits of organic farming before they retire to the nut hut. The Who Farm are out to make a difference on their own terms, armed with a mission and a method that has brought them significant media attention with the lack of a PR firm or a massive marketing machine behind them. You would have to be a little bit crazy to dream up a line sitting scheme aimed at gaining attention for their cause through Apple's iPhone launch while also setting a new world record at the same time. It would be easy to mistake their intense focus and 'go green' passion for some kind of mental disorder. It's not.
Photos by Heyward Gignilliat Join The Who Farm Mailing List
Comments