Ok, remember that old toy, the “See and Say”? Point it to a picture of a cow, pull the string, and it’ll know “A cow goes moo!” Note! This device is totally mechanical and pre-dates the microchip, anyway!!!
So how does it work???
The used one we have for our toddler sometimes messes up in the middle - starting with one sound and ending with another. I wonder what is happening in this case. Sometimes, the two items are adjacent on the dial (face) of the “See and Say”, but sometimes it picks up something else…maybe 180 degrees from the first item? (Will try and check!)
Here’s my guess. Imagine a record with different tracks or grooves. Suppose those grooves were put inside each other such that a specific song was on every other groove. Since these grooves begin on the outer edge of the record, where the needle was started on the edge of the record will determine the song played (this was actually done on some albums during the 70’s). If the needle is started on the record at the point corresponding to the cow, the cow track is played. However, in the See and Say, I suspect that the record is stationary and the needle revolves around the record. Again, just a guess.