Tumblr and Comments
[snip]
I have a hunch it’s intentional we can’t access much of the Tumblr Dashboard via API. In a way, it feels to me to be somewhat akin to the Twitter “fire hose”; see segmented pieces for free (e.g. “updates with friends” on Twitter, or piecing together individually tumblelogs you follow using the read API) but you can’t see the big picture — all updates on Twitter (hugely valuable) or any activity around posts on Tumblr (also hugely valueable).
Clarification: I in no way intend this to ruffle feathers (not that it has, but all the same…) — it is merely my observation and attempt at making a comparison between two web services’ APIs. I don’t believe the lack of any Dashboard API to be malicious or otherwise negative; I’m sure we’ll see the Dashboard open up in some fashion sooner or later.
