Sony did do similar things with the previous two Playstations. The original PSX model had composite and left and right audio outputs on the back, then they revised it and removed them, leaving just the single multi video port. With owners then needing to buy the different cables for each connection type. And with the PS2, the slim PS2 lost the unused firewire port, and the internal HD expansion connector, but did gain an ethernet port.

I looked up the new model and according to some sites selling it, it has a matt instead of shiny finish, and 2 USB slots (so it hasn't lost them all). I assume we could use a USB card reader plugged into one of the USB slots to gain back the same card reading ability?