[j-g-faustus]

    The REST interface is designed to be efficient for large-
    grain hypermedia data transfer, optimizing for the common 
    case of the Web, but resulting in an interface that is 
    not optimal for other forms of architectural interaction.

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch... (Section 5.1.5)

    When a link is selected, information needs to be moved 
    from the location where it is stored to the location
    where it will be used by, in most cases, a human reader.

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~fielding/pubs/dissertation/rest_arch... (Section 5.2.1)

It certainly sounds like "human browsing" was the primary use case. Unless I missed something?

[icebraining]

Yes, it's obviously the primary use case, since REST is modeled after HTTP. But the keyword is primary - it doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't be used for machine-driven workflows.