iPhone hippies queue for Apples

Among the less well known of Apple's achievements is an unexpected but still noteworthy milestone: it has turned the gadget queue into a political event.

At the time of writing, a cluster of some ten or so apparent Apple fans is gathered outside the company's flagship store on 5th Avenue, in New York. Unlike most Apple aficionados, however, these are not just fans of iPods and iPhones.

They are also lovers of apples that you eat - and agricultural produce generally. In fact, the stated aim of TheWhoFarm - best described as an eco-friendly collective - is nothing less than to transform the 17-acre lawn in front of the White House into an organic farm.

"We're here to restore the edible landscape," Daniel Bowman Simon, the group's 28-year-old organiser told Fortune in an interview this week. "We want to bring the seeds of change back to the White House." A page on the group's website shows a flock of sheep grazing in front of the White House, and quotes the following passage from Isaiah:

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation"

At the more conventional end of the eco-spectrum, TheWhoFarm - which stands for The White House Organic Farm Project - hopes to see more widespread use of solar power, food composting - "to help sustain our fragile soil", and organic farming.

Why the connection with the maker of some of the most advanced consumer gadgets on the planet? Well, they appear to like 'big-A' Apple too. "We can't wait for the iPhone 3G," a statement on their website - temporarily rebranded as 'Waiting for Apples (in the Big Apple)' - says.

In the meantime, as they sit in 28-degree heat waiting for Friday's launch, they'll bring as much attention as they can to small-A apples, too - locally produced, of course. "For the next seven days, expect to see us eating a lot of apples," the WhoFarm website says.

Not all observers have taken kindly to them. One report described them as a "newly minted, publicity-seeking collective" on an "agrico-political mission." Another, on the technology site Engadget, described their political message as confused and inane.

"I was a little worried after I read some of the comments," Heyward Gignilliat, one of the WhoFarm volunteers was quoted as saying. "Nothing against Engadget, it's just the blog commenters can be awfully nasty."

But the wrath of some hasn't been enough to deter them. And if their newfound fame doesn't result in the next President agreeing to share the White House lawn with some sheep, they may achieve the other goal they have set themselves. On Friday, after a week-long queue, they hope to earn the Guinness World Record for "the longest time waiting in line to buy something."