[decojoe67]

You're right on all counts Jeff, but you have to consider that this was 1948. Just seeing a video image in your home was miraculous at this time. People would often watch TV like going to a theater. They would often line chairs in front of the set, especially when a group was watching. TV was too exciting, and limited, at this time to lie back on the couch and fall asleep while watching, so you were up in front of these little screens.
The 10" models were the choice sets, but cost-prohibitive ($400) to many people, so these simple 7" TV's at $179 gave many people the chance to have television. I read period articles that people, even at the time, complained that TV screens were too small. By about 1950-51, with large bargain priced bigger screen TV, they began to sell in huge numbers.
As far as the design of this set, Hallicrafters was known for Ham radios and this first TV offering reflected they're signature look. Raymond Loewy did a good job of melding his clean, modern styling cues with unmistakable Hallicrafters cues. It's a love it or hate design, but, when you're a serious TV collector, one of these is must in your collection. The pushbutton tuning is unusual (with channel 1) and only used on a handful or pre-war and early post-war sets.
Oh, and I must say, as collectors items the small screen TV's have the most style, which is a TV collectors number one draw to them. Because of the small screen, it was the only time that so much attention was put on TV cabinet styling. Form over function. If not for the deep cabinets, from the front they are almost radio-like which is pretty cool. Also, weight and space are of importance, and the 7" models are a fraction of the weight and size of a 10"-15" models. 1951 and later sets were nothing more than a box enveloping a picture tube. Easier to watch, but offer very little eye-candy to the TV collector.