We’ve seen some pretty extreme docks iPod before, but never any quite like Jean Michel Jarre’s Aerosystem, a high-end iPod dock that looks like it’s an unused prop fabbed up for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The futuristic audio system literally puts the iPod on a pedestal by building its speakers into a tower of glass tubing, upon which Jobs’ jewel sits perched like a museum piece. The speakers – two 20-watt stereo units and a 40-watt subwoofer – rest in segments sandwiched between glass on the way down the shaft. If that all sounds a little dramatic, just try looking at the photos and tell us it wouldn’t look right at home in orbit.

Image Courtesy of Aerosystem

The dock up top will accept just about every style iPod ever made, except for the Shuffle, and there’s also a 3.5mm stereo jack for connecting analog sources, and a USB 2.0 jack for reading files directly off of digital storage media. Something tells us a thumb drive shoved into the top wouldn’t quite complete the look, though.

Getting a hold of your own three-foot tall iPod shrine won’t be easy. Right now, they’re only sold in France, and they run for 449,00 €, or about $580 USD. More information can be found at the designer’s Web site, though we recommend some background in French, or at least a trip through Google Translate.

Here are some links to other extreme Apple iPod speaker systems: