Radiohead's new business model:

Now the sad truth is that it was a publicity stunt
designed
to extract more money from their fans.

Not if they paid 0$ for the download and now some might do this actually....

You are free to vote with your wallet. Vote 0$ if you feel that any amount is
overcharged for an mp3 file and then order the special edition version which
includes the LP to make the point for high quality releases. Just a matter of
your point of view and the statement you would like to make.

Why are some people bitter?

It's not as if they kept secret that they were releasing a CD version after; they made a press release back almost 2 weeks ago. Those who wanted to download it could the day it came out on Oct 10th, you could pay $1000000 you could pay $0. There were going to be two more releases, a special box set available in December which includes Vinyl, and 2 CD's; and a dedicated CD release early in 08'.

I paid $0 for the download as I knew I wouldn't enjoy an MP3 version of the album as much as a CD. I know many people who don't buy CD's and liked the idea of an MP3 download; they paid money.

They screwed nobody. You screwed yourself.

Yeah, I don't know some people eh? complaining about getting something they can get for free, whatever next?
I purchased my cd copy for the princely sum of $9 recently and it is a veritable musical bargain. Gotta love the 'heads'.
Superbly recorded also.