IN MY IDEA OF HELL, everything is the color of a 1983 Apple IIe computer. And yet I can see the attraction of ColorWare’s limited-edition Retro Apple iMac, a standard Apple-issued model that has been custom painted in the exact shade of beige Steve Jobs picked for his early products. One look at it, adorned with the original Apple rainbow logo, brings me back to the days of Rolodexes and Danceteria.

Thirty years ago, beige was a cliché of office technology—so bland and eager not to offend that it was like Cheerios for the eyes. For decades, I assumed Apple had used that shade to soothe its way into the workplace. But I was wrong. Molded beige plastic was a novelty for electronics when it was chosen for the 1977 Apple II, according to Walter Isaacson’s biography of Mr. Jobs; to set that computer apart from the gray metal cases of his competitors, Mr. Jobs trolled stores for something lighter and friendlier. Of all things, he latched onto the Cuisinart.

Soon, beige became the default color for computers. But when Apple sailed off in search of different palettes, so did I. I’ve worked on a black PowerBook, a Bondi blue iMac G3 and a white iMac G4 and currently own a silver MacBook Air. I barely noticed when the rainbow logo became solidly neutral after Mr. Jobs took Apple products polychromatic, in the late 1990s.

ColorWare vice president Jason Sobotta said his company caters to people who want something special in the commoditized world of electronics—and who can afford to pay twice the price of standard goods. “It’s been a huge hit for us, the retro stuff,” he noted, adding that Colorware’s run of putty iPhones sold out in three days. Of the 25 iMacs released earlier this spring, a few are still available.

I recently gave my chartreuse iPod Shuffle to my 10-year-old daughter. She was grateful for the Beyoncé and Katy Perry downloads but hated the color. Decades from now, when customization companies are painting odd metallic hues on whatever passes for an iPod, she might look back fondly to the days when people wore colorful little boxes like jewelry and had linguine dangling from their ears. At that point her world will probably be beige, and she may even pay double for an alternative. From $3,799, colorware.com