Tackling the real North Pole is estimated to take at least four times as long as the magnetic pole, which, at present, is considerably further south.

BBC: Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Up the Pole

The thin magnetic films can be manipulated to trigger vastly different signals depending upon which direction they face (basically "north pole" and "south pole"), allowing them to be read as the ones or zeros of basic computer code.

FORBES: Total Recall