Different than my BlackBerry, where I had to physically attach the device with a USB cord, the Droid is configured as a mobile hotspot so all I have to do is connect to it from my laptop (after turning on Wi-Fi) like I connect to any Wi-Fi router in an office or at Starbucks.
Also, as a help to making plans and reservations while on the road, I took along a Tep portable wireless hotspot, having fallen victim to massive cell phone roaming charges in the past.
In trying to wrap my head around the Karma hotspot a new prepaid 4G mobile hotspot service that relies on a novel model I keep coming back to the (often post-Apocalyptic) sci-fi stories where some other commodity or service has supplanted cash or gold as the chief currency.
In the end, I believe that wide-area wireless networks will take over the hotspot marketplace and stitch together combination offerings that include both wide-area and local-area high-speed data access.