Self-described “Apple fan boy,” Rob Shoesmith, 30, from Coventry, England, says he’s going to give his house away to a homeless charity when he sells one million copies of his debut book, “Bin There Done That” (US$5.99), on Amazon Kindle and Apple’s iBookStore.
“Bin There Done That” is an account of how Shoesmith used the world of smartphone apps to transform his life after hitting rock bottom, which culminated in a 10-night camping experiment outside an Apple Store in Central London for the release of the iPhone 4s. Key to his experiment was that he couldn’t spend any of his own money while in line; he says he generated over $30,000 of sponsorship from 100 plus companies.
“Throughout the course of my 10 day camp out the homeless people outside the Apple Store played a huge part in helping me get through to the end, and I was motivated to stick with it so I could give away some of the camping equipment to people who really did need it,” Shoesmith says. “Before coming into the world of smartphone apps I was suffering with severe anxiety and depression and without the support of my family and friends I could have possibly ended up on the streets.
Shoesmith found success in 2009 as an iPhone developer. You can read this blog at http://www.robshoesmith.com .