Still have a GE microwave ca. 1980. The only control on it is a manual timer dial. Just one heat setting. I use it almost every day.
1983 Space Saver Microwave Price: $579.99
We paid less than $579 for our GE Profile a few years about.
Using his referenced calculator, that 1983 $579 would be over $1700 today!
Cars are the same way. The more features you add, the more things you have to break. As the government adds more and more regulations to the industry, they become more and more complicated and more and more inclined to breakage. I am certain that our automobile manufacturers could produce a car that would never need replaced in an average users lifetime if A.) they were allowed to and B.) they wanted to.
That will probably last forever. Mechanical controls don’t fail like electronics.
I always advised customers to buy the most basic, least electronic product they could find. Switches and timers last far longer than boards.