Facebook's new offices may herald a trend

As I sat down to write my "2012 tech predictions" column, I recalled a visit last week to Facebook's new offices in Menlo Park, which may herald a business trend in the new year and beyond.

What impressed me -- otherwise the cafeteria

What impressed me -- otherwise the cafeteria and fabulous employee gym to work off all that free food -- is how the company is allowing workers to organize their own work and meeting space. In some degree, the offices are a bit like the company's flagship social network.

There are even preinstalled power adapters for the most popular laptops. I've seen a few people carrying iPads or Android tablets and I expect that trend to grow over time.