"if the next phone I get in a few years comes with the ability to dock my phone to use a full desktop, is that going to count as tethering?"
unless something changes, i have no doubt it will. i have an atrix phone on at&t, it has a 'lapdock' which turns the phone into a netbook. this lapdock is nothing more than an hdmi screen, battery, and usb mouse/keyboard - yet, at&t requires tethering to use mobile data with it...
thankfully, this can be got around by installing a custom rom that doesnt include the lapdock software (which is horribly cumbersome anyway), but it sets a rather disturbing precedent.
unless something changes, i have no doubt it will. i have an atrix phone on at&t, it has a 'lapdock' which turns the phone into a netbook. this lapdock is nothing more than an hdmi screen, battery, and usb mouse/keyboard - yet, at&t requires tethering to use mobile data with it...
thankfully, this can be got around by installing a custom rom that doesnt include the lapdock software (which is horribly cumbersome anyway), but it sets a rather disturbing precedent.