The whole concept of hypertext is that instead of reading text in a strictly linear fashion, like a book, you are able to skip around to topics of interest. Hypertext provides a means of linking sites together to provide someone searching, the resources they are looking for. Hypertext is read by web browsers, like Internet Explorer, Netscape or Lynx.
Browsers are simply programs on a computer that read and interpret the hypertext language.
One major advantage of hypertext and browsers is that it is cross-platform, in other words, many operating systems are able to read the same language, hypertext.