I've looked into them but not taken one yet (because I only just looked a week ago). Apparently they're the materials from courses from the past couple of years from many different departments.

I think they could be useful to help prep you for taking the actual course for credit elsewhere, or to enhance your studies through other universities, or just for lifelong learners. What you're not getting is face time with other students or the teachers, and you still will need to access the books somehow. Fortunately because the courses aren't this year's, you may be able to use earlier editions, which you can get for a fraction of the price of current.

If taking these courses allow you to pass certification tests, then they're worth it if it's a money consideration. If you simply love to learn, they're great.
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It certainly had my interest until reading this in the FAQ:
"Why doesn't every course have solutions to assignments, quizzes, and exams?

MIT faculty and instructors publish only as much content as they are comfortable providing on a Web site that is freely accessible worldwide.

In some cases, solutions to homework assignments, quizzes, and exams are only discussed and presented in the classroom, and not made available in print or electronic format. In other cases, the instructors plan to re-use the assignments, quizzes, and exams in their MIT classrooms, so they do not wish to widely publish the solutions."

Um, I sure don't want to take my time studying and take a test that the answer aren't published. On tests I think I did good on, I have failed, and vice versa

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/help/faq1/index.htm
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