Modern Web Dev Meets 2000s Flip Phone: What Could Go Wrong?

This week, Robbie and Chuck talk with Tom Barrasso about building modern web apps for $15 flip phones, and the challenges of building for ultra-low-end devices. Tom shares his journey from building a podcast app during the pandemic to working in developer relations at CloudMosa. They dive into digital minimalism, the surprisingly advanced features of today’s flip phones, and what it’s like to work remotely while traveling the globe.

In this episode:

• (00:00) - Intro
• (01:07) - Meet Tom Barrasso
• (02:54) - Whiskey rating & review: Johnny Walker Black
• (12:07) - Hot Take: Tailwind or vanilla CSS
• (12:26) - Hot Take: Fit rebase or merge?
• (13:13) - Hot Take: VS Code sidebar left or right?
• (13:33) - Hot Take: Were smartphones a mistake?
• (16:04) - Is switching to a flip phone easier today?
• (21:17) - Increasingly expensive fast food
• (22:58) - A brief history of flip phones
• (29:13) - Building for devices the modern web forgot
• (34:17) - How AI fits into developing for feature phones
• (39:28) - Language quirks, accents, and phonetic texting
• (42:34) - Tips for digital nomads and Tom’s global travels
• (50:15) - Workplace politics
• (55:21) - What would Tom do if not in tech?
• (59:04) - Plugs

Links

• Johnnie Walker Black: https://www.johnniewalker.com/en-us/our-whisky/core-range/johnnie-walker-black-label
• CloudMosa: https://www.cloudmosa.com/
• Cloud Phone: https://www.cloudphone.tech/
• Opera Mini: https://www.opera.com/mini
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/
• Xiamoi: https://www.mi.com/
• Jack Daniel's: https://www.jackdaniels.com/
• Tennessee Honey: https://www.jackdaniels.com/whiskey/tennessee-honey
• University of Massachusetts Amherst: https://www.umass.edu/
• Macallan: https://www.themacallan.com/
• Tailwind: https://tailwindcss.com/
• Git: https://github.com/GIT
• GitHub: https://github.com/
• C++: https://www.w3schools.com/cpp/
• VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com
• Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/
• Nokia: https://www.nokia.com/
• AirPods: https://www.apple.com/airpods/
• Uber: https://www.uber.com/
• Chipotle: https://www.chipotle.com/
• Taco Bell: https://www.tacobell.com/
• McDonald's: https://www.mcdonalds.com/
• Motorola Razr: https://www.motorola.com/us/en/family/razr
• Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/
• Java: https://www.java.com/
• Verizon: https://www.verizon.com/
• T-Mobile: https://www.t-mobile.com/
• Blackberry: https://www.blackberry.com/
• Google: https://www.google.com/
• Firefox: https://www.firefox.com/
• KaiOS: https://www.kaiostech.com/
• Geophone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophone
• Vercel: https://vercel.com/
• Joe Rogan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Rogan
• Boostrap: https://getbootstrap.com/
• Smashing Magazine: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/
• Apple Watch: https://www.apple.com/watch/
• JavaScript: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript
• Kindle: https://amazon.com/kindle
• ES3: https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_versions.asp
• Ember: https://emberjs.com/
• KaiOS.dev: https://kaios.dev/
• TypeScript: https://www.typescriptlang.org/
• Claude: https://claude.ai/
• Docker: https://www.docker.com/
• Angular: https://angular.dev/
• React: https://react.dev/
• Chuck E. Cheese: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_E._Cheese
• ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/
• Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/
• Whisper: https://openai.com/index/whisper/
• Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/
• The Muppets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppets
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
• PillPack: https://www.pillpack.com/
• IKEA: https://www.ikea.com/
• PHP: https://www.php.net/
• Samsung: https://www.samsung.com/
• Bitcoin: https://bitcoin.org/
• The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly: https://www.amazon.com/Inevitable-Understanding-Technological-Forces-Future/dp/0143110373
• Sam Altman: https://x.com/sama
• Wired: https://www.wired.com/

Connect with Tom

• Website: https://barrasso.me/
• GitHub: https://github.com/Tombarr

Connect with Chuck and Robbie

• Robbie Wagner: https://x.com/RobbieTheWagner
• Chuck Carpenter: https://x.com/CharlesWthe3rd

Subscribe and stay in touch

• Website: https://whiskey.fm
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/whiskey-web-and-whatnot/id1552776603
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/19jiuHAqzeKnkleQUpZxDf
• Overcast: https://overcast.fm/itunes1552776603
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WhiskeyWebAndWhatnot

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Veteran web developers RobbieTheWagner and Charles William Carpenter III host this informal, whiskey-fueled fireside chat with your favorite web devs. They discuss all things web development including JavaScript, TypeScript, EmberJS, React, Astro, SolidJS, CSS, HTML, Web3, and more. They take a unique approach and focus on getting to know the human side of developers and their hobbies outside of work, all while sampling a new whiskey that they rate on their unique tentacle scale.