In 1963 I got my first transistor radio ... might have been GE, but I can't remember. It cost $29.95.
In a relatively short time, they were down to $4.98 ... and soon disappeared altogether.
My not-so-in-depth observation of the electronics world seems to show that electronics almost always becomes less expensive as time, science and technology advances.
Interesting.
Now, Let's say in 1963 the average annual pay in America was $10,000.
Automobiles, homes, clothing ... everything was based on that kind of income and life went smoothly.
It seems to me that Someone Somewhere decided an orange should cost 3 cents instead of one ... and well ... did all of an entire economy decide that they had to increase their costs because the orange was (arbitrarilly?) increased in cost?
Is all of this a convoluted twist on the "Go back in time and step on a twig that alters all history" science fiction?
I'm obviously too simplistic in my thought processes, but ... I'd guess the barter system of old pretty much kept pace with what a chicken was worth, whether as a token of trade, or as a monetary value ... and if so ... what happened?
Prices are really arbitrary numbers. What really matters over time is how many hours you have to work to buy the oranges, radios, automobiles and houses. Of course, you have to factor in the changes in technology as you pointed out. The automobile of 2008 is vastly different from the automobile of 1968.