"The metal connectors that hold the eraser to the pencil [...]"

That'd be the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrule. An awesome word.

Here's a quick iPad stand solution proposed by Russians: http://san-teh-nik.ru/2010/07/01/ivantuz-santekhnika-na-sluz...

Sorry, just couldn't resist.

I upvoted you since I got a good laugh, but it's actually a much slower solution than most stands in terms of "construction" and usage -- you have to spend time finding that special sized plunger and it every time you use it, you have to turn you ipad face down, use force to stick the plunger to the ipad, and unsticking it seems to be an even harder operation.

They made a little version for your iPhone: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/iplunge-iphone-stand-28-06-2010...

I feel like you'd have to buy really nice pencils and rubber bands to match the general aesthetic of the iPad.

An alternative to standing it on the metal ferrule of the pencil is to wrap another two rubber bands around those a couple of times to form a rubbery "pad." (6 pencils and 6 rubber bands.)

it's probably better NOT to sharpen the pencils :-)

I just use this: http://blog.shrt.nl/zero-cost-ipad-dock

they cut down trees to get wood to make pencils to make a DIY stand for an iPad which can be used to read books so no paper is used which would have come from cutting down trees to ....

gotta love modern technology! :)