i think its the best idea to put the optical drive direct in front of the user , especially on a big screen , so no need to strech out or turn the all in one computter to reach the drive , same for the card slot in perfect reach for the user , and 2 usb ports and connector for headphones without having to stand up and reach to the back comes handy too and because nowadays most peropherals have usb connectors its ideal if you got another 4 of them at the back(2 of them are usb3.0 ) plus a esata port and hdmi port, and the digital tv tuner might come handy too at a 23" display
as innovative the thunderbold port might be , but usb is still leading , i always loved firewire , but have finally accept it will be doomed to be a thing of the past