These are not the magnets our Grandparents used to play with...

Recent advances in the "fields of magnetism" have produced a new breed of extremely powerful magnets.  The strength that they are able to squeeze into magnets these days, makes them 10's or perhaps even hundreds of times stronger than the old style horseshoe magnets.  This explains why you are starting to see disposable consumer products with tiny little motors in them (the disposable , motorized razor for example) , these powerful little motors need magnets inside them, and would not exist, if not for the power of the latest version of rare earth magnets.  

It's this new power that makes our magnets useful.  We have all seen a fridge magnet, but how often have you seen one that can hold up 20 sheets of paper ?