Nary a mention of the Apple Watch in this episode! You can hear us stabbing our legs with forks the whole time. Instead we talk about the possible new Apple TV streaming service, Force Touch, USB-C and Apple Pay.

Rene Ritchie:

There is absolutely no reason for anyone using Apple Pay to be concerned at all about using Apple Pay.

The comments that Rene details are incredibly irresponsible. There is no “vulnerability” in Apple Pay.

Wired’s James Temperton:

Mario, Link and Donkey Kong could soon be coming to Android and iOS after Nintendo announced it will start developing games for smart devices. The company said the games wouldn’t be ports of existing titles but would be “completely new game experiences”.

It’s interesting that they’ll be new game experiences. In one way it makes sense to use the characters without undercutting their other platforms, but it’s also strange to cede territory to knock-offs. I can’t count the number of games my son plays that have Pokemon-style gameplay.

Apple Watch, Minecraft, Flash, Java, music, Daredevil, Community, sci fi books, charities, THIS EPISODE HAS IT ALL!

Glenn Fleishman has posted the audio of me talking about and playing Minecraft. The audience was mostly a group of very enthusiastic and vocal kids so the results are amusing.

“No, don’t put the door on that way!”

Dan Frommer on Intel lowering its first quarter revenue projection by $1 billion.

Why the reduced demand for business desktop PCs?

Intel says those problems are being caused by “lower than expected Windows XP refresh in small and medium business” and “increasingly challenging macroeconomic and currency conditions,

In a piece by The Guardian titled “Wall Street’s reaction to the Apple Watch? It will sell millions – but meh…” (via M.G. Siegler):

Wood said the watch was likely to sell millions in the first wave. “Honestly, if it only told the time, it would sell millions; that’s how desirable Apple products are. The challenge for Apple is how do you drive demand after the first wave of the Apple fanboys who will buy it at any cost.”

Sigh. Oh, gosh, we’ve never heard that before about an Apple product that went on to sell millions of units every quarter for years. We still hear “fanboys” about the iPhone and they sold 74.5 million of those last quarter.

So, how do you solve a problem like the Apple Watch? You make it useful. I’m getting an Apple Watch because I have actual use for an Apple Watch. Here are my use cases:

1. Hey, an actual watch. My watch died back in December. I could replace the battery, but I’m putting the $20 toward the price of an Apple Watch. Yeah, it’s not a lot off the price but every little bit helps. I’m $20 closer to that Edition, baby.
2. Apple Pay. I don’t currently have huge call to use it, but I will use it when the opportunity arises (as long as I’m not inconveniencing someone who’s already inconvenienced by working in fast food) and the Watch makes it that much easier. And, of course, opportunities are increasing every month.
3. Fitness. You’re not going to believe this but I exercise. No, it’s true. OK, fine, you don’t have to believe me but check with your mom. She’ll tell you. [wink] I only really got back into exercising when it was already apparent Apple was going to make a watch with smartband capabilities, so I didn’t pull the trigger on any existing smartbands. Despite the fact that the Watch doesn’t do everything the iPhone does by itself, it does what I need: record your steps and play music to Bluetooth headphones.*
4. Some notifications. If I can see notifications from only people I’ve tagged as favorites — my wife or my kid’s school — that’s an advantage. If I can see absolutely no notifications from Facebook or Instagram or even Twitter, well, that’s as it should be.
5. Weather. I don’t now why, exactly, but I check the weather probably three or more times a day. Being able to check the weather on my wrist? That’s gonna save me like hella time. OK, some time. Or, I’m just gonna check the weather a lot more. Weather, weather, weather, all day long. While I stay inside. I may have a condition.
6. Some other things I haven’t even considered.

I can’t tell you what other people might want it for. I can only say why I want it. I’m mostly looking forward to having a watch again. At this point it’s not like I’m going to fix my dumb stupidwatch. I need a smartwatch. It’s all smartwatches now. Haven’t you heard? I tried on a Motorola 360 and, uh, no. Let’s be frank, though. I’m not even considering an Android watch. The Apple Watch will work better with the platform I’ve already chosen. Also, the 38mm version is far smaller than any other smartwatch. If you’re an Android user and have chosen an Android Wear watch, vaya con Dios. I’m just sorry they don’t look better.

I wasn’t sold on the need for the Watch before, but if it saves me time, it’s going to be good. The next version that doesn’t rely on the iPhone will be even better.

38mm space gray Sport, if you’re curious.

*Speaking of Bluetooth headphones, I’m disappointed Apple hasn’t made their own (non-Beats). There are a couple I’m looking at but on the whole that market seems like it needs a swift kick in the ass.

Dan, Lex and I talk about Apple’s Monday event for your listening pleasure. Or not, whatever. We’re going to talk about the Apple Watch no matter what you think.

Not surprisingly, the 42mm Apple Watch “typically experiences longer battery life”. Let’s just hope these numbers are iPad true instead of iPhone false.

How-To Geek:

Over the last few months Mojang has been testing a new launcher for the Windows PC Edition of Minecraft (an OS X launcher is in the works and expected by the end of the year). The primary (and newsworthy) change in the launcher is that it now downloads a stand alone version of Java that is independent of the general local installation of Java on the host machine.

So long and good luck with your Ask.com adware installer, Oracle.

(Via @tmtrains)