The computer you're using to type on would either have to be locally sourced...
If we assume the patent started when wheels became exponentially more critical for society (let's just say around the time the automobile was invented, for argument's sake), the cost by now would be far more than 100k per wheel... Automobiles came into mass production roughly in 1914, let's round up to 1920. Let's just say it started at $1 back then (about $10 in 2010 dollars). In 1930, it'd cost $1k to renew. By 1940, it'd cost $1 million to renew. By 1960, it'd cost 1 trillion dollars to renew (per year).... that's double the entire GDP of the US at that time. So, I'm pretty sure the patent would be long-gone by then. So, I think my computer and my city would be just fine.
Probably starting at $1 is a bit too generous, so let's say $1k. Then you'd have 20-30 years, at best, and only that if you were making serious (Apple-esque) money off of it. Not to mention, a single patent is not usually enough, so the costs would be a multiple of this. Maybe it'd need some tweaking, but overall, exponential costs is a good way to limit patent time and yet give enough flexibility to encourage innovation of truly successful ideas.
Of course, this all sort of misses the point. We shouldn't be patenting "pinch-to-zoom" any more than we can patent "point-and-click" or "holding something over your head to avoid getting rained on".