Why Don't We Have These Simple Things?

I'm curious why a few Microsoft Exchange Features don't exist. They should be simple.

Synchronized Signature Files

This should be easy. And yet we don't seem to have it.  I have access to a couple Exchange Servers. One is at work. One is my friend's. He set me up with an account and we use Lync as a chat client. I have the PC and iOS Clients. I saw Lync show up on a list at work. That should be interesting.

So with the wonders of MS Exchange, I can synchronize my email, calendar, contacts, and tasks across a multitude of computers and handheld devices. We'll use three for this post. My desktop PC in my Office, my BlackBerry, and my work laptop. Every time I get a new device, I have to recreate my signature file on that device. BlackBerry crapped out? No problem, they'll issue me a new one, and I have to recreate my signature file on the device. Same with laptops. I just got issued a new laptop, and I had to recreate my signature file. Sure, it's just copy and paste from my sent mail. It's not that big a deal. I'm curious why the signature file can't be kept on the server.

Synchronized Reminders

This one can get annoying. Using the three device example before, here we go. I have a meeting coming up. The default for reminders is 15 minutes. So about the same time, I get a reminder on my BlackBerry and PC. If I'm away from my desk, I'll dismiss the reminder on my BB, but it's still waiting for me on my PC. And it's also waiting for me on my laptop if I left it on at home.

Of course, even the great Google doesn't have this worked out. I'll get Google Calendar reminders all over the place. When iOS reminders came out, I experimented with using Hotmail for calendar and tasks since most of my Google calendars won't sync to my iPad for some reason. Using Hotmail, I'll get a reminder on my iPhone and iPad, plus an email with makes all my devices go "ding".

It would be nice if these simple things would sync across devices.