My first complaint about this story was the sex. Sex in a story is either the point (some value of relationships/erotica focus), integrated seamlessly (nicely well-rounded), non-existent (valuable focus on other things, we hope), or annoying (annoying). I love sex, but the sex in this story was jarring and was filled with horrible puns in a story that wasn't amusing over all; and therefore, annoying. Plot device, sure, but something else could have been found to fulfill that purpose, the sex could have been written better (or narrated better, that is a factor), or the sexual themes could have been explored more as character development instead of just thrown in there.
I really love the BIKCO concept. A homemade computer that gets smarter and faster all by itself, built from simple solutions, wood, and special sauce? Wicked cool. But I'm not really sure that concept was used effectively in this story. The story needed more words where it had fewer, and fewer words where it had more.
Another thing I liked was the integration with the musical group that has the "Transcendence Express" song. I think that device could have been explored more deeply--I'm not going to express this very well, so I apologize, but my reaction is that I had a neat "aha!" feeling, but it could have been bigger or more developed. I just like that "aha!" thing though so I can accept that it could be a good story without it.
I'm not entirely convinced it was. But I question why stories end up in Best of SF collections all the time, when
somebody must have liked them. I do think it could have been better.
Also, the BiQCos thematically reminded me of the Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer in Neil Stephenson’s Diamond Age. The small nation of Chinese girls midway through the novel, who each receive a Primer, would have undoubtedly had classroom dynamics very much like the kids in Trancendence had. For all of you fellow techies who loved the Q-comp tech in this short story: I heartily recommend Diamond Age (which has more geeky tech than you can shake carbon nanotube at).
Talk about sexy tech. Great book.