When Steve Jobs made the surprise announcement on Wednesday that Apple was dropping the price of the high-end iPhone by $200, most everyone was elated. Most everyone, that is, except for the early adopters, many of whom stood in line for hours for the privilege of dropping 600 clams on the iPhone. Quite a bit of Internet whining ensued post-price drop but as anyone who has ever bought a consumer electronics item can tell you, there’s always something newer, faster and cheaper on the horizon.

Despite this fact of life, Steve Jobs decided to extend an olive branch to disenfranchised iPhone buyers, in the form of a partial refund. In the latest open letter from the desk of Steve Jobs, the CEO apologized for burning the Apple faithful with an unexpected price drop so soon after launch. “I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale,” Jobs wrote. “After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions.” Every customer who purchased the iPhone at its original $499/$599 price point will receive $100 in Apple Store credit next week (details will be revealed on Apple’s website). “…[W]e need to do a better job taking care of our early iPhone customers as we aggressively go after new ones with a lower price,” Jobs wrote. “Our early customers trusted us, and we must live up to that trust with our actions in moments like these.” If there’s a lesson in all of this, it’s that a little whining can go a long way.

For more on the partial refund:
– read the full text of Job’s letter