Haha... I knew an astute fellow hacker would pickup on that. :) Yes, the monitor cutout was originally the spot for the music stand. I had to router out about 1/4 an inch to fit in the stripped down apple 23inch display. Currently I have my MBP hooked up on the desk in the center to get some more screen space. Moving between the two screens helps with the height issue.
Given that almost everyone has their screens too low usually, I'm not so sure. Middle of the screen should be eye level if you sit looking to the horizon with a straight back, would be nice if it was vertically adjustable admittedly. The chair is a little low in that picture though for the height of the keyboard maybe.
Thanks! Yes, first time I sat down to use it I thought, "Uh oh..." But now I find the experience to be quite immersive with the monitor close and vertical. Right, now that I look at it the chair is low. Usually the arm rests meet the height of the desk which seems to be the optimal height.
I did ergonomics as part of my course at uni. Having the top of the screen at eye level means your gaze is always from level and down, this is not good practice and encourages a hunched posture as you will tend to aim your head at the middle of the screen and use upward eye movement to look at the top of the screen. Having the center of the screen at eye level keeps your neck straight and there is plenty of movement in they eye itself to look to the top of the screen without having to tilt your head back, even when fairly close to a screen. The major exception to this is when wearing bifocals.
However I am re-reviewing the literature and might be able to be convinced that having it slightly lower is better, but I still think that having the top of the screen at eye level is too low. Has been ages since I looked at this properly, so I might be suffering from reality-distortion.