Yes, the original 60GB PS3 had extra hardware/software for backwards compatibility with PS2 games. This was removed when the cheaper 40GB version was released, and for all versions that have followed.
It is a real shame that the PS3 now doesn't have any backwards compatibility with PS2 or PS1 games. However I'm hopeful that in a future firmware update, or another hardware revision in the future that this will be added back in, but I'm doubtfully.
You can still buy slim PS2's though for not much money so do you really need a PS3 to be backwardly compatible? It is debatable, however it is also nice to have a single console for all three and not need to keep them all connected up all of the time.
I do think that the original 60GB PS3's are going to command more money than recent versions though due to this backwards compatibility.