Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems very responsive to customer email these days.

Gizmodo has obtained another email supposedly sent from Jobs' iPhone, claiming that Apple and AT&T want to officially bring "tethering" to the iPhone 3G.

Lots of other carriers and handset makers offer ways to wirelessly hook your laptop up to your smartphone, and use the data connection of the phone to get on the internet. But Apple and AT&T scuttled one early iPhone application called NetShare that was designed to do just that.

One Gizmodo reader claims to have asked Jobs why Apple and AT&T don't offer the option of paying for such a service, calling their reluctance "ludicrous". Steve supposedly said in reply: "We agree, and are discussing it with ATT." You can tether if you're willing to jailbreak, but that might get you in trouble with Apple and/or AT&T.

Is it just me, or does the recent rash of Jobs' email replies to disgruntled customers raise anybody else's eyebrow? Jobs has been known to reach out to customers this way, and has invited shareholders to email him directly, if they have questions or concerns, but over the last couple of weeks, he seems to have really picked up the pace.

We emailed Jobs directly this morning to see if he'd confirm whether he's actually responding to these emails, or whether a crack team of marketing department "Steves" monitors his inbox and selectively responds to keep that grassroots feeling alive. We shall see.