the personal computer is obsolete
up until this point i’ve resisted the temptation of blogging about the iphone, simply because it’s been done to death lately everywhere else. yes, it is amazing and ridiculous and lacking in features here and there; this has already been blogged, twitttered and webcasted around the globe by now. but tonight i’m writing this blog (yes i am typing this on my phone no less) because i spent a decent amount of time setting up a system that ensures i’ll never need my laptop again. i’ve been amazed with the capabilities of the phone from a web browsing and email experience, not to mention entertainment, but until today my phone’s been lacking that killer app that rounds out my productivity needs: an SSH shell.
the terminal app may not appeal to most users, but to me and some of my nerdy comrades it is the end all be all of functionality. access to one shell is my gateway to a number of machines- work, personal web sites, file sharing, projects are all acessible. so you can imagine my excitement of being able to access this entire universe from a handheld device. my interest was piqued by sites featuring iphone friendly ssh access, but if you don’t see the inherent security risks there, let’s face it you probably shouldn’t have ssh access in the first place. well then I stumbled across a gem called webshell, an adaptation of ajaxterm that allows you to use a shell on your iPhone through the safari browser. it is a python app written by some guy from Michigan (I apologize for not attributing the author here but copy/paste support on this thing is seriously lacking). edit: here’s the link, still can’t find the guy’s name! anyway i have it set up on one of my web servers running through https and now I can access the command line from my phone! to anyone with the knowledge and resources, i would highly recommend. it’s a very nice addition to the iphone’s repertoire.