I have the very first model of the PS3, and while it is a shame that things have been lost, it is all for the good of the console since otherwise they would not have been able to get to this price-point this quickly!
I personally only ever use 2 USB ports at a time, one for the Playstation Eye and the other for either wireless Singstar Mics or charging a controller, so 2 is ample (in terms of my usage)








