what is this tethering you hear about?

what the hell is tethering?
since wwdc09 the word has been buzzing around like crazy but i since on average i get asked once a day to explain what th f’ it is… i suspect not many people understand it.
i explain it to people as quickly as possible
by using an example everyone can relate to…
your iphone/smartphone/blackberry uses a data network (edge/3G/3GS) that you pay for carrier (verizon/att etc) monthly to be a part of so you can browse the web via phone/anywhere.

picture this:
you are sitting the airport.
you are browsing websites on your phone but you brought your laptop.
you have 3 hours to kill and are sick of staring at a tiny screen.
you turn on your  laptop,  launch your browser only to find a wi-fi hotspot page pop up requesting $9.99 (or more) for hour of surfing.
wait a minute.
how come i can browse away on my phone without having to pay additional money?
how come i cant just use my phones data network?!
enter : TETHERING
tethering enables your laptop to jump on your carriers data network and surf away. your phone creates an ad-hoc network that shares its data network with your laptop.
sweet. i know.
heres apples explanation.
the iphone 3.0 software…out the gate, allows this but carriers are not happy and have blocked it till further notice BUT there are hacks all over now to enable it now..
not that i would EVER use a hack…;)
tethering. fun times.
das wuz up!