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I act with the belief that notice by email is not enforceable and I ignore any emails with claims of legal action. I am under no obligation to read email. If it were true that an email serves as legal notice, then process servers would be out of work.

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In general, it would depend on the type of notice. The bar is high for process servers because of the extraordinary importance of the news they're delivering. However, many contracts and statutes merely require "written notice." In these situations, the distinction between snail mail and email can matter, but I don't think it would often hinge on one's ability to ignore it. One can just as easily ignore snail mail as email.

But how would companies with lots of users provide notice otherwise? Apple is not going to be sending out letters to all XYZ million users of iTunes when they change the Terms of Service.

I would bet the original ToS have a clause stating "you agree to receive notices by email" or similar.

Also, keep distinct the notion of general communication between a company and client, and serving a legal notice.

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