Spoken words are here and gone in an instant.
For most of what people do, that's fine. Our memory, aided by an occasional scribbled note, usually gets us through. But there are times and circumstances when we need to know and be able to research exactly what was said, by whom. This is especially true in the field of law, where property, freedom and even lives depend on who says what in pretrial depositions and in court. There are other occasions when exact records of proceedings are valuable, such as administrative hearings, conventions and stockholder meetings.