Like I commented on previous article.. Smaller chip size, lower cost to manufacture and less heat.
For me though.. it doesn't matter because I have one of the first PS3's released. Which has PS2 backward compatibility.
NO, I didn't wait in line for days or buy it on eBay for $1,000. I simply reserved one at gamestop and casually picked it up on the day of it's release. Part of the reason I bought one right away is because it is backwards compatible and my PS2 broke and I still have several PS2 games that I barely got to play before it broke.