Rooting most Android phones and jailbreaking an iPhone are about the same level of technical difficulty as far as a consumer is concerned.

Indeed. The post I responded to opined that you shouldn't have to root to unlock functionality of your phone, and this was relative to Android devices. Yet to tether your iphone you have to either root, or pay an extra $20 a month to AT&T on a non-"unlimited" data plan: Your device is limiting you on behalf of your carrier.