The "computerized communication console" was just old looking technology, dressed up to look like an "IBM home office". A laptop would do the same thing. They missed out on miniaturization all together.
After WWII the Lustron prefabricated steel home was thought to be the house of the future. Lustron homes were prefabricated from steel panels that were coated with enamel similar to stoves and refrigerators. We still have two of these little homes in a development not far from where I live.
Those Lustron homes seem to be "collectibles" now! I was reading about how people are searching for them. They were all numbered. Thanks Bea.
"Lustrons were an ingenious 1940s invention: modern homes made of prefabricated steel sheets. Located in Chesterton, Indiana, this Lustron home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places."