The fact that it was so light was nice. I dunno what was "disgraceful" about it. It didn't have any wow factor for sure, but it was functional and not difficult to use or hold. It's worth noting that it didn't have a lot of dev time since Sony was committed to the "boomerang" controller until about 6 months prior to launch. When the DS3 replaced it in 2008, it certainly felt like a more natural PS controller.
My launch 60GB PS3 died in mid-2013--not sure if it was God Of War: Ascension or The Last Of Us that killed it since I was playing both at the time. Either way, I ended up having to buy a super slim model only months before the PS4 launched. Glad I did though, since there still is no true PS3 BC. I still have the Sixaxis controller for my launch unit. I never use it. I'd throw it out since it's battery is probably all but useless, but I consider it a piece of gaming history so I hold onto it.