Whiskey Web and Whatnot: Web Development, Neat Modern Web Dev Meets 2000s Flip Phone: What Could Go Wrong?
Jul 31, 2025
01:03:41
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
Whiskey Web and Whatnot Merch
Enjoying the podcast and want us to make more? Help support us by picking up some of our fresh merch at https://whiskey.fund.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.