The means of communication would include pneumatic mail tubes, telephones, telegraphs, radios, and mechanically composed newspapers. -- Howard P. Segal, The Technological Utopians, in Joseph J. Corn (Ed.), Imagining Tomorrow: History, Technology and The American Future (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986).
The magnetic interference can also cause problems with NFC performance on the new iPhones, and Apple has now started warning manufacturers in its MFi program with accessories supporting the devices to avoid magnets or metal.
Magnets are commonly found in motors, dynamos, refrigerators, credit and debit cards, and electronic equipment, such as electric guitar pickups, stereo speakers, and computer hard drives. They can be either permanent magnets, made of naturally magnetic forms of iron or alloys, or electromagnets.