[hyperdimension]

Not OP, but I believe it was Little Brother by Cory Doctorow: If I recall correctly, they used nodded Xboxes.

https://craphound.com/littlebrother/Cory_Doctorow_-_Little_B...

I read it a while ago, so I might be wrong, but it was a good read at any rate.

[neilv]

Thanks for the pointer, but I think that's probably not the particular story I was thinking of.

The intro to Cory Doctorow's story says he wrote it in 2007.

The story I'm thinking of was probably a short in an anthology that I must've bought in paperback in the early-to-mid 1990s.

It's a neat idea to parallel-invent, or to reference.

(I donated all my SF books around 2000, but now I should see whether I can find the book on Amazon or somewhere.)

Edit: It might've been in "Mirrorshades: An anthology of Cyberpunk", edited by Bruce Sterling, 1998.

[PawgerZ]

I have a copy of mirrorshades at home. I don't remember that being in any of the stories. Been a while since I read it, so you may be correct.

[syene]

That’s good enough for me, I’ll check Mirrorshades out, thanks so much!

[syene]

Thanks! I’ll check it out along with what the original commenter guessed the book was. At worst, Little Brother will have similar themes.