"This is a situation in which many different departments must all have access to the same data, and all be able to use it in different ways. And this is a strength of the relational model."

That is what I have been saying for years. Relational (or something close to it) is basically just good factoring of information (data) to avoid duplication, divorce meaning from presentation, and ensure integrity.

"In the embedded market, we only have a single application to deal with, the application within which our database is embedded."

Perhaps. My world-view may be shaped by my domain, I don't deny that. OO might be perhaps great in the embedded world.