It’s light, it’s tough and it’s beautiful to both look at and touch. Is there anything better than bamboo for making an iPad case? Maybe not. And Silva’s bamboo case for the iPad 2 is finally, finally available to buy.
Silva has been teasing and showing off its case for what seems like forever, but you can at last order one and have it delivered to your door, mere weeks before the iPad 2 itself is superseded by the iPad 3.
The case weighs in at about a pound, is lined with wool felt and has a leather retaining strap to keep the iPad inside. The finish comes courtesy of a good rubbing down with tung oil, followed by a couple coats of polyurethane varnish.
Bamboo is a kind of grass, and as such is grows very fast, minimizing environmental impact. It is also, like soya, incredibly versatile (I have a memory-foam-like pillow made from soya oil, for example). In fact, if the world could only use bamboo and soya to make things from now on, I’m sure not much would change.* And speaking of impacts, the Silva case is designed to crumple on impact, sacrificing itself to save the iPad inside, like a bike helmet collapses to protect your head.
The price for this beautiful case is $130 ($140 outside the U.S). Just pray that Apple doesn’t make the iPad 3 any thicker than the iPad 2.
[Thanks, Justin!]
*joke