MS Access: RIP?

In his latest newsletter this weekend, author, Rick Dobson, says:

The development flexibility and excellent pricing for the [VB] Express suite contrasted with the higher pricing and relatively aged development capabilities of Microsoft Access suggest that many Access developers will find a more useful environment for creating custom database solutions with the Express suite.

I beg to differ. Outside large enterprises, independent Access developers must compete on price, and clients will not pay more for something less accessible and more expensive to build and maintain. Access has been a success because it is simply the best RAD for desktop databases.