Out Of Office Autoreplies: Oh yeah?

Please don't send me "Out Of Office" autoreplies (as they are called in Outlook and most email programs)! I just got one where the sender actually replied to my email only a few seconds after his autoresponder told me he was out of the office until Monday. Email is not instant messaging -- it's asynchronous, which means the sender doesn't expect a reply until you are able to sit down (or thumb down) and write one. In other words, it's not an issue of being "in the office". I have access to email -- in my office, in my home, in my car, in airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, on the beach, everywhere. So why the heck would I warn people that I don't have access to email?