The idea with the apple is, that this is the fruit of knowledge. This is the fruit that is usually connected with success, money, prosperity, life. You know the story with Rockefeller who started with just one apple. The idea was more with the philosophy perspective.
If the logo takes that much explaining, it's not communicating a simple message. I don't plan to explain the logo to the web visitors on the web site. But I commend the cultural allusion. I'm hoping for something more corporate, more related to advertising or the idea of contemporary insight--like your "consortium" logo's feel.