What IS unique however (and of grave concern), is that an upcoming 'flip' will be the first such event to impact 'modern' man... dependent on radio waves, electric grids, electromagnetic fields, compasses, polarity, etc. The effects are unknown.
The uncertainty of the pole shift is what impact the loss or "vibrations" of the magnetic field will have on everything from solar wind (that could irradiate crops, animals and people possibly causing famine, cancer, etc.) to UV and X-ray emissions of the sun (also possibly causing all kinds of mayhem), never before seen fluctuations in the propogation or blocking of all kinds of radio traffic, to the possibility of causing massive power surges on power grids.
This has never happened when we had so much land tied up in crops, so many miles of power cabling to receive power, so many devices depending on accurate position readings and communications. The main point is that while we can not truly know how we will be affected, there is a rather distinct possibility that it will be orders of magnitude worse than you imagine.
We have an interresting conflict of philosophies here. Insisting that it will be bad could destroy economies and countries even if nothing actually happens at all. Insisting that it has no possibility could be the difference between stepping back to last decade's economy and stepping back to the 1700's. Or farther. The question is how to logically prepare for the most likely outcomes, and yet have some small backup plan to keep the species alive if it is far worse than anyone fears.