Why do people waste time waiting in line for 2-3 days for an iPhone?

I live in NYC. 2-3 days before a new iPhone is released, you'll see people lining up with tents and sleeping bags outside Apple stores, forming really long lines. This means no showering, and I don't know how they use the bathroom… And can't someone take your spot if you get up to get food?

Why are people so desperate for it? It's like Apple has created a cult, because each year the iPhones are never significantly different (until now since the screens got bigger), yet people still give up their humanity to buy these things. And most of these people just use their phone for basic things like Facebook, texting, Instagram, and taking selfies.

I really can't understand why anyone would go sleep in the streets to buy such an overpriced phone when most of the times, their old phone is still perfectly fine. It's not hard to wait a few days/weeks for the phone to be in stock again…

Is there anyone here who has been on such a line, who can speak from experience? I'd like to know why people do this.

By the time you grow up you'll realize that people feel passionately about different things for emotional reasons - which means that they can't be explained rationally.

It's really a simple answer… I mean think about it. IPhones were the first MAJOR improvement in the cellphone industry. When Steve Jobs first introduced them, the world went crazy. They grew to be a type of status symbol. If you had one of the new "iPhones" then you were more respected, probably had more friends, were more popular, and gained a lot more attention just because you had the most advanced piece of cellphone technology available to mankind in your pocket. Same thing here. People view it as a status symbol. If you're one of the rare few thousand that have the newest iPhone the week it comes out, you're gonna get more attention, probably be more popular, and get the respect of everyone around you. Sad really… But it's all about status, popularity, and people trying to be the best.