curseless <blink> with backspaces

blink.rb

def blink string, duration: 4, interval: 0.5
  start = Time.now
  while Time.now < start + duration
    print string
    sleep interval
    [?\r, ?\s, ?\r].each { |char| print char * string.size }
    sleep interval
  end
end

blink '1998'

blink 'quick', interval: 0.2