Element Case's Joule is a premium iPad stand. A heavy, polished block of metal that looks like a work of art — or perhaps a discarded industrial component — it comes with a detachable metal bar that can be adjusted three ways for different viewing angles. As far as designer iPad stands go, it's hard to imagine something fancier that is not completely absurd. As it is, this one is expensive enough: $130 solves your exceedingly first-world problem. It's gorgeous, but there's a flaw! There's no way to snake the charging cord into it, so it can't do charging duty.
P.S. It strikes me is how this and, say, a $1 business card holder, each exemplify the two poles of 'minimalism.' Joule is the end that costs a lot, is beautiful, lasts forever, simplifies decisively, but carries a vague whiff of ubiquitous consumption in unnecessary places. The $1 business card holder seems more truthful in that it offers the bare minimum required to fulfill its function, but is actually a bit crap. All in all, it's easy to see why one would pay $30 for the one from Apple that actually charges the damned iPad.
