Which do you trust more: someone’s word, or someone’s email?

In today’s world of online communication, it’s always interesting to see how people respond to an actual conversation when the subject is important.  Are they listening intently, taking notes, perhaps recording the conversation?  Or are they just there in body, not in mind, listening to about half of what’s going on, knowing that whatever is said is going to followed up by a detailed email anyway.  If it’s important enough to be said, it’s more important that it be typed out and presented on the screen.  Afterall, isn’t that what “minutes” in a meeting are?  A re-cap; reassurance that what was said is now on paper (well, in an email anyway…print it if you must).  If this is all true, one might question why we even bother with the actual conversation.  What better, more thorough way to make sure that your point is getting across than to send it out in an email.  Sure, a person’s tone or attitude might be misinterpreted, but the actions that you are going to take, or need someone else to take are right there, in black and white, as a record of what needs to be done.  There’s always a possibility that if direction is given only by the spoken word, that something could be dropped, forgotten, or worse, “I didn’t say that.” 

So I ask, which do you trust more:  Someone’s word?  Or someone’s email?