May be my more than 20 years of taping make me a newbie, anyway...
So I can't understand the question.
I record 24 bit, I do editing in 24/32 bit and I distribute16bit and 24 bit versions, both.
No one can hear the difference? May be, but if someone wants to do some more editing, sure 24 bit is to be prefered.
Power consumption is the problem in portable recording?
I don't know, I have a Roland R-26 that can run more than 8 hour with phantom powered mics on four 1.5V rechargeable battery.
Storage problems?
When I recorded on DAT tapes more than 20 years ago I need to carry at least 2 tapes for standard show and a bunch of tapes for festivals.
And once at home... Well, let's say that CPU and HD where not so cheap at the time!