I shouted the words 'Halloo! Halloo!' into the mouthpiece, ran the paper back over the steel point, and heard a faint 'Halloo! Halloo!' in return.
"I determined to make a machine that would work accurately, and gave my assistants instructions, telling them what I had discovered.

They laughed at me.

That's the whole story.

The phonograph is the result of the pricking of a finger." It is one thing to hit upon an idea, however, and another thing to carry it out to perfection.

The machine would talk, but, like many young children, it had difficulty with certain sounds--in the present case with aspirants and sibilants.