Raster maps will always be the newest technology because it is just a picture and it can represent anything.

But I understand the point that vector imagery is more compact/efficient, and since it is rendered "on the fly" the placement of labels, etc. are optimized for your screen in real time. I need to learn more about OSM, had a look at this a year or two ago when we discussed it before. As you say, it is difficult to get started due to lack of step by step tutorials. Finally decided it was just more than I wanted to get into. I am also on iOS so I can't use Orux or Locus (although I have an android tablet).
But some things require raster imagery, like aerial photos and shaded terrain (although I suppose terrain can be generated from DEM data in realtime). I have been making maps from aerial imagery from different time periods recently. I have one map that covers the whole state of New Jersey at 6 foot per pixel resolution. It is about 8GB. I have another map that covers an area of about 25 miles x 25 miles near my home at the resolution of 1 foot per pixel. It is about a 5GB file.

But storage is getting cheaper and faster. I have a 128gb iPhone 6s Plus, it uses really fast flash memory, I think access speed is in the neighborhood of 800MBytes/sec and it also has a laptop class CPU. Raster imagery works very nicely on this platform, zooming and scrolling is very fast.
But the OP in this thread wants to make printed paper maps. That is pretty much the definition of raster imagery.
