Graphophone, a term coined by Alexander Graham Bell, refers to an early dictating machine that recorded sound onto a wax cylinder. The word graphophone is often used interchangeably with other terms such as phonograph, gramophone, and record player. Phonograph is a term often used in the US while gramophone is more commonly used in Europe. A record player is a modern version of the graphophone, which plays vinyl records rather than wax cylinders. In addition, there are other related terms like talking machine, sound recorder, and audio player that can also be used as synonyms for the graphophone. Regardless of the term used, all refer to a device designed to record or play back sound recordings.