Lately, though, the 4 has been showing his age. The Home button isn't as responsive, apps load slower, newer apps are increasingly being optimized for phones well newer than this one... that sort of thing.

I knew it would happen, but I didn't want it to. The funny thing about Apple products and me is that I tend to become attached to them. I still have my very first G3 PowerBook (bronze keyboard) from 1999. I can't part with it. I still have my first iPod (third generation) and it still works. I have my first generation iPod Shuffle and use it. I know many Apple owners are the same way. They develop an emotional attachment to their devices the likes of which you never hear about with Android and Windows users.

But with the aging and a killer deal at Best Buy this week allowing for the purchase of a new 16GB iPhone 5C* for $1 with trade-in of any working smartphone, Katie and I decided now was as good a time as any to start really looking into them.

Yesterday, we hit the Apple Store - Main Place in Naperville and I asked them about a trade-in value on my iPhone 4. They made me an offer of $101. That's $2 more, technically, than Best Buy was offering. And I get to do it at an Apple Store, a place I feel much better about spending my money than Best Buy.

So I** now have a white 16GB iPhone 5C in one of the Apple dark gray cases and, so far, I love it! Sure, I miss my iPhone 4 and will remember it fondly for how great it's been over the years, but this 5C is ridiculously fast.

I forgot how blazingly quick iPhones can be.

* Note 1: After very careful consideration, I just didn't see the need to spend an additional $100 on an iPhone 5S for a slightly faster processor, better camera, and thumb scanner. In all honesty, any processor is faster and any camera is better than my iPhone 4. And, in less than a year, the 5S will be outmoded, too. So it was a matter of leveraging cost savings now versus the quality difference of features. Cost savings won. Hard to beat a $1 iPhone.

** Note 2: We will be getting Katie's iPhone 5C either later tonight after work or tomorrow morning. We're going to trade in her old iPhone 3G at Best Buy. The Apple Store only offered $27 for it so we figured it's better to get the bigger trade in value at Best Buy. We plan to keep Katie's iPhone 4 to use for apps, photos, storybooks, and music for Nathan. He actually has a pretty decent grasp on how the thing functions. Better to use a somewhat more modern iPhone for that as most of that stuff probably won't work at all on an iPhone 3G.