It takes up a lot less space than my CDs used to, now boxed up in the garage.
BTW - I'm under the impression that you must load an mp3 into an ipod through it's software, which just dosen't drop it on the drive, but does some conversion of it.
It will not play them if you do attempt to just put in on as you would any other file.
My little creative looks and acts like a flash drive, just toss them on from any comp and play - no software needed.